downtown

1 of 2

adjective

down·​town ˌdau̇n-ˈtau̇n 

1

: of, relating to, or located in the lower part or business center of a city or town

2

: hip, trendy

downtown music

downtown adverb

downtown

2 of 2

noun

down·​town ˌdau̇n-ˈtau̇n  ˈdau̇n-ˌtau 

: the lower part of a city or town

also : the main business district or central part of a city or town

downtowner

ˌdau̇n-ˈtau̇-nər 

noun

Synonyms

Adjective

• au courant
• cool [slang]
• def [slang]
• groovy
• hep
• hip
• in
• mod
• now
• trendy
• turned-on
• with-it

Examples of downtown in a Sentence

Adjective

the downtown clientele of this bistro come to be seen, and the food is only an afterthought

Recent Examples on the Web

Adjective

On Thursday, tens of thousands of spectators were downtown for the 3-mile walk that features several floats, giant balloons, marching bands, clowns, Santa, elves, holiday music and much more. —Nour Rahal, Detroit Free Press, 28 Nov. 2024

And once downtown, local hotels do their part to secretly move Hollywood stars around the city. —Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Sep. 2024

Noun

Every Business Is Now In Show Business Picture this: 45,000 people from 140 countries, hanging out in downtown San Francisco with Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson and Pink, who is literally swinging like an acrobat across the crowd. —Martin Kihn, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2025

Neon Sign Park, Casa Grande At the edge of downtown, 14 historic neon signs have been salvaged and rehabilitated. —Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 1 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1837, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1845, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

downtown

1 of 2 adverb

down·​town ˌdau̇n-ˈtau̇n 

: to, toward, or in the main business district

downtown

2 of 2 adjective

-ˌtau̇n

: situated downtown