What does "neighborhood" mean?
The residential area near one's home.
Neighborhood
/ˈneɪbɚˌhʊd/ noun
noun ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The residential area near one's home.
- Grammar: neighborhood is listed as noun.
- Nearest alternatives: vicinity, locality, air space, airspace.
- Useful contrasts: city-wide, citywide area, distant.
- Usage evidence: If I showed you my house, my neighborhood back then, would you understand where I am from?
How to use "neighborhood"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "neighborhood" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "neighborhood" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "neighborhood" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "neighborhood" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "neighborhood" is acting as noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "vicinity" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "neighborhood", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The residential area near one's home. US, countable, uncountable
"He lives in my neighborhood."
- 2 people living near one another wordnet
- 3 The inhabitants of a residential area. US, countable, uncountable
"The fire alarmed the neighborhood."
- 4 a surrounding or nearby region wordnet
- 5 A formal or informal division of a municipality or region. US, countable, uncountable
"We have just moved to a pleasant neighborhood."
Show 14 more definitions
- 6 an area within a city or town that has some distinctive features (especially one forming a community) wordnet
- 7 An approximate amount. US, countable, uncountable
"He must be making in the neighborhood of $200,000 per year."
- 8 the approximate amount of something (usually used prepositionally as in ‘in the region of’) wordnet
- 9 The quality of physical proximity. US, countable, uncountable
"The slums and the palace were in awful neighborhood."
- 10 The quality of being a neighbor, of living nearby, next to each other; proximity. US, countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Our neighborhood was our only reason to exchange hollow greetings."
- 11 Close proximity; nearness. US, countable, dated, uncountable
"At first he was partly hidden among the latschen, then his hind-quarters, quite black, emerged from the dark green bushes, as he slowly moved on, perfectly unconscious of our neighbourhood."
- 12 The disposition becoming a neighbor; neighborly kindness or good will. US, countable, obsolete, uncountable
- 13 Within a topological space:; A set containing an open set which contains some specified point. US, countable, uncountable
- 14 Within a topological space:; Alternatively: An open set which contains some specified point. US, countable, uncountable
- 15 Within a metric space:; A set containing an open ball which contains a specified point. US, countable, uncountable
- 16 Within a metric space:; Alternatively: An open ball which contains some specified point. US, countable, uncountable
- 17 The infinitesimal open set of all points that may be reached directly from a given point. US, countable, uncountable
- 18 The set of all the vertices adjacent to a given vertex. US, countable, uncountable
- 19 The set of all the vertices adjacent to a given vertex.; The set of all cells near a given cell used to determine that cell's state in the next generation. US, countable, uncountable
"In fact, it looks at the number of states and the neighborhood of the rule (determined by the filename), and decides whether to make it a lookup-table, or a "computed-function" rule."
Example
"If I showed you my house, my neighborhood back then, would you understand where I am from?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "neighborhood"?
Common synonyms include: vicinity, locality, air space, airspace, alentours, ambience.
How do you use "neighborhood" in a sentence?
If I showed you my house, my neighborhood back then, would you understand where I am from?
How do you pronounce "neighborhood"?
Pronounced /ˈneɪbɚˌhʊd/.
Etymology
From an alteration of earlier neighborred (“neighborhood”), from Middle English neȝeburredde, neheborreden, equivalent to neighbor + -red; the term being interpreted as neighbor + -hood. For change in suffix (-red to -hood), compare brotherhood. Cognates Cognate with Scots nichbourheid (“neighbourhood”). Compare also Dutch naburigheid (“neighbourhood”).