-ville

American

a combining form extracted from placenames ending in -ville, used in the coinage of informal nonce words, usually pejorative, that characterize a place, person, group, or situation (dullsville; disasterville; Mediaville ) or that name a condition (embarrassmentville; gloomsville ).

-ville British

combining form

slang (denoting) a place, condition, or quality with a character as specified

dragsville
squaresville

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of -ville

Ultimately from French ville “city”; bidonville

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.

"The border is very peaceful at the moment, but we are aware the global situation is tense," said Ville Kuusela, a senior border guard.

From Barron's

The Hôtel de Ville in central Paris, with its ceiling frescoes and rich wood panelling, is a far cry from the drab courtrooms in which Ms Pelicot was last seen publicly, during the four-month trial that shook France.

From BBC

On the evocative “Bombs in the Ville/Hit the Gas,” Mr. Cole imagines an upsetting conversation with an earlier version of himself: “I bought a iPhone that travels through time / FaceTime done got younger me on the line / Soon as he saw me he just started cryin’.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Ville Husso made 24 saves as the Ducks dropped three games on their five-city trip.

From Los Angeles Times

Laferriere got the scoring started late in the first period, parking himself in front of the goal and banging the puck past Ducks’ goalie Ville Husso, who made two big saves in the shootout.

From Los Angeles Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023