hometown

noun

home·​town ˈhōm-ˈtau̇n How to pronounce hometown (audio)
Synonyms of hometown
often attributive
: the city or town where one was born or grew up
also : the place of one's principal residence

Examples of hometown in a Sentence

She returned to her hometown to stay after college.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Sword fighting plus cape plus Francophilia plus hometown pride equals yes, please. — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2026 Amy was born and raised in the Indianola area and got her start at her hometown newspaper, The Record Herald. — Alex Zietlow july 1, Charlotte Observer, 1 July 2026 The Boca Raton native was definitely happy about it, and gave a shout-out to everyone who came out to cheer her on in her hometown. — Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 1 July 2026 Mauricio Pochettino says soccer and mystical energy propelled him out of his hometown. — Teo Armus, Washington Post, 1 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for hometown

Word History

First Known Use

1851, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hometown was in 1851

Rhymes for hometown

See All Rhymes for hometown

Browse Nearby Words

home theater
hometown
home truth
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Hometown.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hometown. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

hometown

noun
home·​town -ˈtau̇n How to pronounce hometown (audio)
: the city or town where one was born or grew up

More from Merriam-Webster on hometown

Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for hometown

Nglish: Translation of hometown for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All