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When Should You Use urbane?
City slickers and country folk have long debated whether life is better in town or in the wide-open spaces, and urbane is a term that springs from the throes of that debate. In its earliest English uses, urbane was synonymous with its close relative urban ("of, relating to, characteristic of, or constituting a city"). Both words come from the Latin adjective urbanus ("urban, urbane"), which in turn comes from urbs, meaning "city." The modern sense of urbane developed from the belief (no doubt fostered by cosmopolitan city dwellers) that living in the city made one more suave and polished than did leading a rural life.
Examples of urbane in a Sentence
Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 24 Oct. 2025
The mood was comfortably urbane, with edge.
—Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Inspired by Japanese kissa jazz bars, these urbane spaces feature incredible audio systems and DJs spinning records for people who value the communal experience of taking in excellent music.
—AFAR Media, 14 July 2025
The thriller follows two urbane brothers who witness a baby being kidnapped from an impoverished mother at a railway station in rural India.
—Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 26 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for urbane
Cite this Entry
“Urbane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/urbane. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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