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downtown

down·town/ˈdaʊ̯nˌtaʊ̯n/adjective, adverb, noun

downtown is spelled D-O-W-N-T-O-W-N: 8 letters and 2 syllables (down·town). It appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,612th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, downtown means “Of, relating to, or situated in the central business district” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in downtown?

Letters8: D-O-W-N-T-O-W-N
Syllables2: down·town
In writing25 times per million words; the 3,612th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is downtown?

Downtown appears 25 times per million words in written English, the 3,612th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce downtown?

  • US /ˈdaʊ̯nˌtaʊ̯n/
  • US [ˈdaʊ̯nˌtʰaʊ̯n]
  • /ˈdæʊ̯nˌtæʊ̯n/

Downtown has 2 syllables, split down·town in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-downtown.wav, LL-Q7976_(mis)-Le_Rêveur0316-downtown.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with downtown

Also written: down-town (one word or two).

Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of downtown

  • further downtown comparative
  • farther downtown comparative
  • more downtown comparative
  • furthest downtown superlative
  • farthest downtown superlative
  • most downtown superlative
  • dahntahn
  • downtowns plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does downtown mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Of, relating to, or situated in the central business district.

    John walked every day to his downtown job.

adverb

  1. 1

    In or towards the central business district.

    You need to go downtown four blocks.

  2. 2

    Outside the three-point line, or generally far from the basket.

    That shot came from way downtown!

noun

  1. 1

    CanadaUSThe main business part of a city or town, usually located at or near its center.

  2. 2

    USslangThe human genitalia.

  3. 3

    slangHeroin.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Downtown in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchcentre-ville (in, or towards the central business district), quartier d'affaires (either the lower, or the business center of a…)
Germanin der Innenstadt, in die Innenstadt (in, or towards the central business district), Stadtmitte, Innenstadt, Stadtzentrum, Zentrum (either the lower, or the business center of a…)
Portuguesecentro (in, or towards the central business district), baixa (either the lower, or the business center of a…)
Spanishcentro, centro/núcleo urbano/ciudadano/citadino, downtown, dauntaun, dauntáun (either the lower, or the business center of a…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does downtown come from?

From down + town.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after downtown