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The Suburbs vs. the Urbs
Given that most of the common words in our language beginning sub- tend to have meanings concerned with “beneath” (as in subterranean and submarine) or “less than” (as with subpar), you would be forgiven for assuming that the suburbs were so named because of their location below, or their status as less than, their urban counterparts. Not so, however: sub- may have other meanings at the beginning of a word; in this case, it indicates not depth or inferiority, but proximity. In other words, the suburbs are a region close to the urbs.
Is urbs an English word? Yes; it is rarely used, but it refers typically to a city, particularly when distinguished from a suburb.
Examples of urban in a Sentence
Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 4 Mar. 2026
By targeting urban centers, energy infrastructure, airports and hotels across the gulf’s Arab states, Iran has shaken populations long used to security.
—Mostafa Salem, CNN Money, 4 Mar. 2026
New York in the seventies was a different city, shaped not by a pandemic but the material constraints of poverty, crime, and urban decay.
—Taran Dugal, New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2026
This is Florida’s largest urban park, a sprawling preserve of tangled mangroves and tidal estuaries set against Biscayne Bay.
—Taylor Haught, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for urban
Cite this Entry
“Urban.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/urban. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
urban
adjective
