Word.ws English Dictionary

sundown town

sundown town noun: a place or jurisdiction that prohibits or discourages a certain class of people, typically a certain race or ethnicity, from living there or remaining there after sundown, or, in some cases, from visiting during the day.

Noun

sundown town (plural sundown towns)

  1. A place or jurisdiction that prohibits or discourages a certain class of people, typically a certain race or ethnicity, from living there or remaining there after sundown, or, in some cases, from visiting during the day.
    • Beattie is a sundown town for tramps since the fire.1946 August 8, J. D. Stosz, “Jay Dee's Column”, in The Marysville Advocate, Marysville, Kansas, via Newspapers.com, page 11
    • Cousin Paul said: "Of course, this is a sundown town [no Negro residents tolerated], but if Ike sends in the paratroopers, we can always integrate with the bears."1957 November 11, Joseph Ator, “Firm Hand of the Law Stifles Nashville's Strife by Racial Segregation”, in Chicago Daily Tribune, via Newspapers.com, section 1, page 2

sundown town meaning in Vietnamese

sundown town in Vietnamese

place that prohibits certain people from living there
thị trấn mặt trời lặn

Examples of sundown town in a sentence

  • However, according to old-timers, there is a time-honored tradition extending back at least two generations that "this is a sundown town."1960, The National Conference and the reports of the State Advisory Committees to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, page 330:
  • A dandy example is Fairborn, up until recent years a "Sundown Town" where community forces worked in concert to keep Negroes out.1968 August 25, Doug Walker, “Integration Moving on Peaceful Feet”, in Dayton Daily News, Dayton, Ohio, via Newspapers.com, page 4-C:
  • [James W.] Loewen compiled an online map allowing people to find out more about the racial history of their towns, identifying thousands of likely and confirmed sundown towns across the U.S.2016 July 11, Miller Jozwiak, “From 'Go Home' to 'Welcome Home' for local man”, in The Sheboygan Press, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, via...

Synonyms of sundown town

Forms of sundown town

pluralsundown towns

Origin of sundown town

After signs posted at town entrances warning that “colored people” (among other terms) were required to leave town by sundown.

Questions about sundown town

What does sundown town mean?
Sundown town means a place or jurisdiction that prohibits or discourages a certain class of people, typically a certain race or ethnicity, from living there or remaining there after sundown, or, in some cases, from visiting during the day.
What is sundown town in Vietnamese?
Sundown town in Vietnamese is thị trấn mặt trời lặn. See Sundown town meaning in Vietnamese.
How do you use sundown town in a sentence?
However, according to old-timers, there is a time-honored tradition extending back at least two generations that "this is a sundown town."
What part of speech is sundown town?
Sundown town is a noun.
What is the plural of sundown town?
The plural of sundown town is sundown towns.

Words near sundown town in the dictionary

  1. sundog
  2. sundogs
  3. Sundon
  4. sundown
  5. sundown syndrome
  6. sundown town
  7. sundown towns
  8. sundowned
  9. sundowner
  10. sundowner syndrome
  11. sundowner town

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: sundown town (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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