Phrase guide

inner city

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The parts of a large city closer to its core, especially older, populous areas of low-income or immigrant families as opposed to centrally located commercial areas.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: urban studies

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: core city

Antonyms: suburb, countryside

2

noun

Meaning 2

the older and more populated and (usually) poorer central section of a city

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: center, centre, middle, heart, eye

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

20 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: intramurs — central part of a city
  • Danish: centrum — central part of a city
  • Danish: bymidte — central part of a city
  • Danish: indre by — central part of a city
  • Danish: midtby — central part of a city
  • Dutch: binnenstad — central part of a city
  • Dutch: stadskern — central part of a city
  • Finnish: kantakaupunki — central part of a city
  • Finnish: keskusta — central part of a city
  • German: Innenstadt — central part of a city
  • German: Stadtmitte — central part of a city
  • Greek: άστυ (ásty) — central part of a city
  • Icelandic: miðbær — central part of a city
  • Icelandic: miðborg — central part of a city
  • Norwegian: sentrum — central part of a city
  • Portuguese: intramuros — central part of a city
  • Swedish: centrum — central part of a city
  • Swedish: city — central part of a city
  • Swedish: innerstad — central part of a city
  • Urdu: اَنْدرُون شَہَر (andrūn śahar) — central part of a city