Wednesday, May 29, 2013

urban, urbane

Urban or urban ( err ben ) describes a city, or some aspect of city life--
They left the farm to live in the city, but urban life didn't agree with them.
His daily commute on the subway was a convenient aspect of urban life.

Urbane or urbane ( err bane ) means sophisticated or worldly--
He considered himself urbane and sophisticated, but he nearly shrieked when he saw the bill.
He affected a suave and urbane manner, but she could see that he was nervous.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Urban living has not made him sophisticated--that remark was anything but urbane."

Note--"suburban" describes a place just outside of a city, or an aspect of life in such a place--
The little suburban community didn't have the convenience of the city, nor was it as peaceful as a rural community.

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