as in apartments
a room or set of rooms in a private house or a block used as a separate dwelling place
an exhibit of pictures showing the tenements of the New York City neighborhood of Hell's Kitchen during the 1920s
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Recent Examples of tenements
No one wants to go back to the days of tenements and apartments with insufficient ventilation or light.
—
Michael Schill,
Chicago Tribune,
13 May 2026
The novel begins with a deadly fire that destroys two tenements.
—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
21 Apr. 2026
German Jews—my people—were far less numerous, most of them came to the United States earlier, and their typical first occupation was peddling, which entailed wandering through non-Jewish areas, not living in tenements.
—
Adam Kirsch,
The Atlantic,
23 Mar. 2026
The tenements featured in Marty Supreme of course replicated those from the 1950s.
—
India Roby,
Architectural Digest,
27 Feb. 2026
More than half a million residents live in NYCHA development plagued by chronic mold, broken elevators, and heating failures; others reside in subpar tenements run by crooked landlords.
—
Darius Jones,
New York Daily News,
15 Feb. 2026
There’s a row of five-story buildings off Fifth Avenue in Park Slope that seem to fit the neighborhood standard for prewar, working-class tenements — a central staircase divvying up ten dark railroad apartments.
—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
2 Jan. 2026
The grotty tenements of the Lower East Side — and the distinct fashion within — is as much of a character in A24’s drama as the eponymous ping pong player himself.
—
Anna Tingley,
Variety,
27 Dec. 2025
The streets, tenements, fire-escapes, the elders, and the urgent concerns of childhood—or, rather, the helpless intensity of anguish with which one watches one’s childhood disappear—are rendered very vividly indeed by Louise Meriwether, in her first novel, Daddy Was a Number Runner.
—
Literary Hub,
22 Dec. 2025
Michael Schill,
Chicago Tribune,
13 May 2026
The novel begins with a deadly fire that destroys two tenements.
—
Danielle Parker,
CBS News,
21 Apr. 2026
German Jews—my people—were far less numerous, most of them came to the United States earlier, and their typical first occupation was peddling, which entailed wandering through non-Jewish areas, not living in tenements.
—
Adam Kirsch,
The Atlantic,
23 Mar. 2026
The tenements featured in Marty Supreme of course replicated those from the 1950s.
—
India Roby,
Architectural Digest,
27 Feb. 2026
More than half a million residents live in NYCHA development plagued by chronic mold, broken elevators, and heating failures; others reside in subpar tenements run by crooked landlords.
—
Darius Jones,
New York Daily News,
15 Feb. 2026
There’s a row of five-story buildings off Fifth Avenue in Park Slope that seem to fit the neighborhood standard for prewar, working-class tenements — a central staircase divvying up ten dark railroad apartments.
—
Adriane Quinlan,
Curbed,
2 Jan. 2026
The grotty tenements of the Lower East Side — and the distinct fashion within — is as much of a character in A24’s drama as the eponymous ping pong player himself.
—
Anna Tingley,
Variety,
27 Dec. 2025
The streets, tenements, fire-escapes, the elders, and the urgent concerns of childhood—or, rather, the helpless intensity of anguish with which one watches one’s childhood disappear—are rendered very vividly indeed by Louise Meriwether, in her first novel, Daddy Was a Number Runner.
—
Literary Hub,
22 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenements
Noun
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On May 28, a gas explosion killed three residents of The Clyde apartments, in the Oak Cliff area at the intersection of Patton Avenue and East 9th Street.
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Early planning documents reviewed by CBS News show the project could include 800 guest rooms and suites, luxury villas, a golf course, a casino, a water park, and townhouses and apartments.
Noun
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There’s also a collection of luxury residences and penthouses for longer stays, each, of course, with stunning floor-to-ceiling views of Grace Bay’s turquoise waters.
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Beginning with the purchase of two penthouses in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood, Swift eventually expanded with another apartment in the same building and the townhouse next door.
Cite this Entry
“Tenements.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenements. Accessed 26 Jun. 2026.
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