Word of the Day — October 30, 2012

Gentrification — JENT-rif-ih-KAY-shun — the act of improving something so that it conforms to middle-class tastes

Example: "According to a review of Tom Wolfe's latest novel, it was mentioned in retrospect that 'In his novel "The Bonfire of the Vanities" he satirized the state of race and class in New York's 1980s, when the city was neutered by gentrification.'"