gentrification

noun

gen·​tri·​fi·​ca·​tion ˌjen-trə-fə-ˈkā-shən 

: a process in which a poor area (as of a city) experiences an influx of middle-class or wealthy people who renovate and rebuild homes and businesses and which often results in an increase in property values and the displacement of earlier, usually poorer residents

a neighborhood undergoing gentrification

"This week, we're talking about gentrification. Middle-class people move in. Property values and rents rise. Things change and improve but not for everyone. …"

—Lulu Garcia-Navarro

Opposition is also stoked by fear of gentrification—displacement of longtime residents through higher rents or property taxes.

—Steven Litt

The construction of luxury housing and gentrification of neighborhoods is pushing families out of communities they have called home for years.

—Heidi Romanish and David Snyder

In an effort to keep gentrification from creeping in the same way into the 30th Ward … Jessica Gutierrez wants to keep a lid on property taxes and inform residents about affordable housing.

—Alexandra Arriaga

Examples of gentrification in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The project was delayed by years of debate and lawsuits, including over concerns about the takeover of lakefront land and the gentrification that could displace current residents. —Susan Page, USA Today, 15 June 2026

Worries about neighborhood gentrification, implying a new tourist destination is all downside. —The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 14 June 2026

Soul Gastrolounge left in 2022 after a dramatic rent hike and reopened in NoDa in 2025, leaving the prominent Plaza Midwood corner as a kind of symbol for the neighborhood’s gentrification debate. —Charlotte Observer, 12 June 2026

The discourse around the mass American migration to CDMX is one of both gentrification and opportunity, and short-term rental platforms play a not-insignificant role. —Hannah Towey, Condé Nast Traveler, 9 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

gentry + -ification

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for gentrification

• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation
• accommodation
• accreditation
• acculturation
• accumulation
• acetylation
• adjudication
• administration
• adulteration