inner city
Americannoun
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an older part of a city, densely populated and usually deteriorating, inhabited mainly by poor, often minority, groups.
Struggling schools in the inner city face substantial challenges to prepare students for college.
adjective
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of or relating to such a section within a city: low-income residents in inner-city neighborhoods.
after-school programs for inner-city youth;
low-income residents in inner-city neighborhoods.
noun
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the parts of a city in or near its centre, esp when they are associated with poverty, unemployment, substandard housing, etc
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( as modifier )
inner-city schools
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A general term for impoverished areas of large cities. The inner city is characterized by minimal educational opportunities, high unemployment and crime rates, broken families, and inadequate housing. (See ghettos.)
Etymology
Origin of inner city
First recorded in 1960–65
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I was in the inner city, I’m not going to shy away from that,” he says.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 10, 2026
On Wednesday, Fremont All-City defensive end Andrew Williams signed with USC, the first inner city signee since Joseph Lewis and Greg Johnson signed from Hawkins High in 2017.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2025
Last month, as part of a "clean-up" campaign across Johannesburg, the city council said the inner city had been "targeted... for the systemic removal of pervasive lawlessness, illegal activities, hijacked properties, and critical by-law infringements".
From BBC • Nov. 9, 2025
Maverick Carter, a longtime friend and business partner of both James and Schottenstein who runs an entertainment company, describes meeting Schottenstein as “a young African-American kid from the inner city of Akron, Ohio.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 30, 2025
Five days later, the Russians surrounded the inner city, prepared for siege warfare.
From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.