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
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
Also, bamboo scaffolding is ubiquitous in the city, used not only in the construction of new buildings, but also in the renovation of thousands of historic tenements every year.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 26 Nov. 2025
Whereas middle- and upper-class homes had bathtubs by the 1890s, most tenements had none.
—Jacob Beckert, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2025
Teachers gravitated to a book in one of our exhibits, Sermons and Addresses by Abraham Lincoln, that originally belonged to Parthenia Lawrence, a Black teenager who lived in the tenements during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
—Annie Polland, Time, 25 Sep. 2025
Her novels always burst with a rich historical vibrancy, but The Gilded Heiress in particular brings to life the streets and tenements of the Gilded Age, as well as the burgeoning success of Broadway as industry.
—EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
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
Also, bamboo scaffolding is ubiquitous in the city, used not only in the construction of new buildings, but also in the renovation of thousands of historic tenements every year.
—Catherine Nicholls, CNN Money, 26 Nov. 2025
Whereas middle- and upper-class homes had bathtubs by the 1890s, most tenements had none.
—Jacob Beckert, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2025
Teachers gravitated to a book in one of our exhibits, Sermons and Addresses by Abraham Lincoln, that originally belonged to Parthenia Lawrence, a Black teenager who lived in the tenements during the Civil War and Reconstruction.
—Annie Polland, Time, 25 Sep. 2025
Her novels always burst with a rich historical vibrancy, but The Gilded Heiress in particular brings to life the streets and tenements of the Gilded Age, as well as the burgeoning success of Broadway as industry.
—EW.com, 28 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tenements
Noun
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It was perceived as a day of opportunity for tenants, who shuffled among apartments in search of places that were larger, better located, or appointed with marvels of the day such as hot water, flush toilets, or electric lighting.—
Henry Grabar,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2026
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Fire officials said eight apartments were heavily damaged, and 24 units are now considered uninhabitable.—
CBS News Atlanta Digital Team,
CBS News,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The Joule Dallas, Texas After years of renovations and a major expansion, The Joule now takes up almost an entire city block and features 160 rooms and penthouses, a subterranean spa, a rooftop terrace, a cantilevered pool, and multiple dining and retail venues.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
16 Feb. 2026
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The penthouses will include private rooftop terraces with plunge pools.—
David Lyons,
Sun Sentinel,
11 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tenements.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tenements. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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