student asking question

I think "suburb" is another word for "outskirt", but when is "outskirt" used? What is the difference between those two?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

You're right! They are similar. "Suburb" means the residential area or district outside of a town or city. "Outskirts" refers to the outer area of a town or city. So you could say that "suburbs" are the "outskirts" of a city. However, sometimes "outskirts" refers to the area outside of, near to, or the edge of where people live and stay - which could be outside of a "suburb". Ex: I live on the outskirts of the city. It's nice and quiet there in the suburbs. Ex: If you go to the outskirts of the suburb, near the mountain, you'll see a lot of nature. Ex: There are a lot of families that live in the suburbs.

Popular Q&As

12/19

Complete the expression with a quiz!