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Glite Dictionary
🚗 Toward south 🧭 Southern part 🏞️ Southern region
downstate

downstate

3 6.0
The southern part of a state that is not the city and the people who live there
  • noun
  • /ˈdaʊnˌsteɪt/
  • US
: el sur del estado (EE. UU.)
  • Residents of downstate Illinois often have a strong sense of community and tradition.
  • going downstate
  • trip downstate
  • downstate town

Examples

  • Emily went to Wellesley College, having come there from what definitely was the faraway other world of downstate Illinois.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Bobby, after graduation, went downstate to the University of Illinois.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • There is nothing sweeter than going downstate as a young person.

    Hoop Dreams (1994)

  • St. Joe's made it downstate five of the last six years.

    Hoop Dreams (1994)

  • I come from a blue-collar white background in a largely rural area of downstate Illinois.

    Blog text (3)

  • According to DCFS, child abuse and neglect rates have risen by 5.4 percent in downstate counties.

    Blog text (2)

  • In the supersectionals, St. Joe's meets DeSalles... to decide who will go downstate.

    Hoop Dreams (1994)

  • Many families from the city are moving downstate to enjoy a quieter lifestyle.

  • After spending the weekend in the bustling city, I felt a sense of relief returning downstate.

Synonyms

south
vsdownstate
170 1.0

The lower part of a country, region, or city on a map

is narrower meaning the less urban part of a state and its people

Antonyms

upstate
  • US
138 3.4

In the northern or inland part of a state away from the city

Surface Forms

downstate singular
downstates plural

Morphology

downstate = state (transparent) = down + state

The noun sense ('the southern part of a state' or its inhabitants) follows directly from the compound 'down' + 'state'. [Postprocessing: moved 'down' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Downstate comes from down ('toward the south' or 'lower') and state ('region'), and it can mean the southern or less urban part of a state or the people who live there.