suburbanize

verb

sub·​ur·​ban·​ize sə-ˈbər-bə-ˌnīz How to pronounce suburbanize (audio)
suburbanized; suburbanizing

transitive verb

: to make suburban : give a suburban character to
suburbanization noun

Examples of suburbanize in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Any final zoning changes are years away, and there are no immediate plans to suburbanize Avocado Heights and Pellissier Village. Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2023 Traditionally a hub for ranching and farming, Kaufman County has steadily suburbanized, and also encompasses parts of Cedar Creek Lake, a popular fishing and recreation area. Stefanos Chen, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2023 During the 1950s, after this census was recorded, Detroit began to suburbanize and continued to segregate. Emma Stein, Detroit Free Press, 1 Apr. 2022 After Jacobs published her book in 1961, most American cities suburbanized, cutting people off from this kind of casual contact with the people around them. Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic, 8 May 2018 The sights and sounds and smells as big farm trailers back up to offload their livestock cargos on a sale day would seem more appropriate for a major Midwestern agricultural state than for highly urbanized and suburbanized Connecticut. Gregory B. Hladky, courant.com, 13 Oct. 2017 The other two densest metro areas, San Francisco and Los Angeles, suburbanized only slightly. Jed Kolko, New York Times, 22 May 2017 Once a land of dairy farms, Mission Valley served as a rural-like buffer between dense Uptown and suburbanizing Clairemont, Serra Mesa and other neighborhoods to the north. Roger Showley, sandiegouniontribune.com, 27 Apr. 2017

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'suburbanize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1862, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of suburbanize was in 1862

Dictionary Entries Near suburbanize

Cite this Entry

“Suburbanize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suburbanize. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

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