urban

The word “urban” means relating to, or located in, a city or town, as opposed to the countryside. In plain terms, to do with cities and city life, in contrast to rural or suburban settings.

“Urban” is pronounced URBN (/ˈɜɹbən/ in IPA).

Here is “urban” used in a sentence: “Urban areas tend to have higher population density than rural ones.”

The opposite of “urban” — its antonyms — are bucolic, nonurban and rural.

“Urban” is an adjective.

The word “urban” comes from Latin. From Latin urbānus, "of a city," from urbs, "city" — the same root that gives us "suburb" and "urbane.".

“Urban” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.

Urban describes anything relating to a city — urban traffic, urban planning. Urbane describes a person who is sophisticated, polished, and socially confident. Though both come from the Latin word for 'city,' urban is about place while urbane is about refined manners, so the two are not interchangeable at all.

Urban refers to cities and towns — densely populated, built-up areas with plenty of infrastructure, shops, and transport. Rural refers to the countryside — open land, farms, villages, and low population density. They are direct opposites, describing the two broad settings in which people live and work.

Urban areas are the dense centre of a city, with tall buildings, busy streets, and constant activity. Suburban areas sit on the outskirts — quieter residential neighbourhoods surrounding the city, with houses, gardens, and more space. Suburbs bridge the gap between the fully urban core and the rural fringe.

Cities such as London, New York, or Manchester are urban areas, along with their busy town centres. Anything marked by dense population, buildings, roads, shops, and public transport counts as urban — in clear contrast to farmland, villages, or open countryside, which are described as rural instead.