Apartment vs. Flat — What's the Difference?

An individual unit within a larger residential complex.

A British term for a housing unit on a single level.

A residential unit in a multi-story building.

Predominantly used for rental properties.

A self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building.

Part of a building without internal stairs.

An apartment can be owned as a condominium in the U.S.

Often found in converted older buildings.

Apartments may include amenities like pools and fitness centers.

Known for its practical and basic accommodation.

An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies only part of a building, generally on a single story. There are many names for these overall buildings, see below.

Having a level surface; without raised areas or indentations

A flat, typically one that is well appointed or used for holidays

Lacking emotion; dull and lifeless

A room or suite of rooms designed as a residence and generally located in a building occupied by more than one household.

(of a sparkling drink) having lost its effervescence

An apartment building

(of a fee, wage, or price) the same in all cases, not varying with changed conditions or in particular cases

A room.

(of musical sound) below true or normal pitch.

Apartments Chiefly British A suite of rooms within a larger building set aside for a particular purpose or person.

Relating to flat racing

A complete domicile occupying only part of a building, especially one for rent; a flat.

In or to a horizontal position

(archaic) A suite of rooms within a domicile, designated for a specific person or persons and including a bedroom.

Completely; absolutely

(obsolete) A division of an enclosure that is separate from others; a compartment

Below the true or normal pitch of musical sound

A conceptual space used for separation in the threading architecture. Objects in one apartment cannot directly access those in another, but must use a proxy.

The flat part of something

A room in a building; a division in a house, separated from others by partitions.

An upright section of stage scenery mounted on a movable frame.

A set or suite of rooms.

A flat tyre

A compartment.

Flat racing.

A room or suite of rooms in a building comprising a dwelling unit separate from others in the building, and typically having its own separate bath, sanitary, and kitchen facilities. Such apartments are in most cases rented from the owner by those dwelling in them.

A musical note lowered a semitone below natural pitch.

A suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house

A set of rooms forming an individual residence, typically on one floor and within a larger building containing a number of such residences.

Lower (a note) by a semitone

Make flat; flatten

Live in or share a flat

Having a smooth, even surface

Having a relatively broad level surface in relation to thickness or depth

Being in horizontal position; lying down

Being without slope or curvature

Having a low heel or no heel

Free of qualification; absolute

Fixed; unvarying

Lacking interest or excitement; dull

Lacking in flavor

Having lost effervescence or sparkle

Deflated. Used of a tire.

Electrically discharged. Used of a storage battery.

Of or relating to a horizontal line that displays no ups or downs and signifies the absence of physiological activity

Of or relating to a hierarchy with relatively few tiers or levels

Commercially inactive; sluggish

Unmodulated; monotonous

Lacking variety in tint or shading; uniform

Not glossy; matte

Being below the correct pitch.

Being one half step lower than the corresponding natural key

Designating the vowel a as pronounced in bad or cat.

(Nautical) Taut. Used of a sail.

Level with the ground; horizontally.

On or up against a flat surface; at full length.

So as to be flat.

Directly; completely

Exactly; precisely

(Music) Below the intended pitch.

(Business) Without interest charge.

A flat surface or part.

Often flats A stretch of level ground

A shallow frame or box for seeds or seedlings.

A movable section of stage scenery, usually consisting of a wooden frame and a decorated panel of wood or cloth.

A flatcar.

A deflated tire.

A shoe with a flat heel.

A large flat piece of mail.

A horse that competes in a flat race. Also called runner.

A sign (♭) used to indicate that a note is to be lowered by a semitone.

A note that is lowered a semitone.

(Football) The area of the field to either side of an offensive formation.

An apartment on one floor of a building.

(Archaic) A story in a house.

To make flat; flatten.

(Music) To lower (a note) a semitone.

To sing or play below the proper pitch.

Having no variations in height.

In a horizontal line or plane; not sloping.

Smooth; having no protrusions, indentations or other surface irregularities, or relatively so.

Without variation in level, quantity, value, tone etc.

At a consistently depressed level; consistently lacklustre.

Of fees, fares etc., fixed; unvarying.

Without variations in pitch.

(of colours) Without variation in tone or hue (uniform), and dull (not glossy).

(figurative) Lacking liveliness or action; depressed; uninteresting; dull and boring.

Lacking in depth, substance, or believability; underdeveloped; one-dimensional.

Lowered by one semitone.

(music) Of a note or voice, lower in pitch than it should be.

Absolute; downright; peremptory.

(of a tire or other inflated object) Deflated, especially because of a puncture.

(of a carbonated drink) With all or most of its carbon dioxide having come out of solution so that the drink no longer fizzes or contains any bubbles.

(wine) Lacking acidity without being sweet.

(of a battery) Unable to emit power; dead.

Without spin; spinless.

Sonant; vocal, as distinguished from a sharp (non-sonant) consonant.

(grammar) Not having an inflectional ending or sign, such as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix; or an infinitive without the sign "to".

Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft.

Flattening at the ends.

(of measurements of time) Exact.

So as to be flat.

Bluntly.

(of accurately measured timings) Exactly, precisely.

Used to emphasize the smallness of the measurement.

Completely.

Directly; flatly.

Without allowance for accrued interest.

An area of level ground (sometimes covered with water).

(in the phrase 'the flat') Level ground in general.

Level horse-racing ground, as contrasted with courses incorporating jumps, or the racing done on such ground.

The area in the centre of a racecourse.

(music) A note played a semitone lower than a natural, denoted by the symbol ♭ placed after the letter representing the note (e.g., B♭) or in front of the note symbol (e.g. ♭♪).

A flat tyre/flat tire.

(in the plural) A type of ladies' shoe with a very low heel.

(in the plural) A type of flat-soled running shoe without spikes.

(painting) A thin, broad brush used in oil and watercolour painting.

The flat part of something:

(swordfighting) The flat side of a blade, as opposed to the sharp edge.

The palm of the hand, with the adjacent part of the fingers.

A wide, shallow container or pallet.

(mail) A large mail piece measuring at least 8 1/2 by 11 inches, such as catalogs, magazines, and unfolded paper enclosed in large envelopes.

A railroad car without a roof, and whose body is a platform without sides; a platform car or flatcar.

A flat-bottomed boat, without keel, and of small draught.

(geometry) A subset of n-dimensional space that is congruent to a Euclidean space of lower dimension.

A straw hat, broad-brimmed and low-crowned.

A flat sheet for use on a bed.

(publishing) A flat, glossy children's book with few pages.

A platform on a wheel, upon which emblematic designs etc. are carried in processions.

(mining) A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.

(technical, theatre, stagecraft) A rectangular wooden structure covered with masonite, lauan, or muslin, often produced in standard modules, that is used to build wall surfaces on stage. Flats can be painted and outfitted with doors and/or windows to depict a building or other part of a scene. It's a hard-surfaced alternative to a backcloth orbackdrop.

(entomology) Any of various hesperiid butterflies that spread their wings open when they land.

(historical) An early kind of toy soldier having a flat design.

(obsolete) A dull fellow; a simpleton.

(optics) A flat (i.e. plane) mirror

A cheater's die with the edges shaved to make certain rolls more likely.

An apartment, usually on one level and usually consisting of more than one room.

(poker slang) To make a flat call; to call without raising.

(intransitive) To become flat or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.

To fall from the pitch.

To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.

To make flat; to flatten; to level.

To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.

To beat or strike; pound

(transitive) To dash or throw

(intransitive) To dash, rush

Having an even and horizontal surface, or nearly so, without prominences or depressions; level without inclination; plane.

Lying at full length, or spread out, upon the ground; level with the ground or earth; prostrate; as, to lie flat on the ground; hence, fallen; laid low; ruined; destroyed.

Wanting relief; destitute of variety; without points of prominence and striking interest.

Tasteless; stale; vapid; insipid; dead; as, fruit or drink flat to the taste.

Unanimated; dull; uninteresting; without point or spirit; monotonous; as, a flat speech or composition.

Lacking liveliness of commercial exchange and dealings; depressed; dull; as, the market is flat.

Clear; unmistakable; peremptory; absolute; positive; downright.

Below the true pitch; hence, as applied to intervals, minor, or lower by a half step; as, a flat seventh; A flat.

Sonant; vocal; - applied to any one of the sonant or vocal consonants, as distinguished from a nonsonant (or sharp) consonant.

Having a head at a very obtuse angle to the shaft; - said of a club.

Not having an inflectional ending or sign, as a noun used as an adjective, or an adjective as an adverb, without the addition of a formative suffix, or an infinitive without the sign to. Many flat adverbs, as in run fast, buy cheap, are from AS. adverbs in -ë, the loss of this ending having made them like the adjectives. Some having forms in ly, such as exceeding, wonderful, true, are now archaic.

Flattening at the ends; - said of certain fruits.

In a flat manner; directly; flatly.

Without allowance for accrued interest.

A level surface, without elevation, relief, or prominences; an extended plain; specifically, in the United States, a level tract along the along the banks of a river; as, the Mohawk Flats.

A level tract lying at little depth below the surface of water, or alternately covered and left bare by the tide; a shoal; a shallow; a strand.

Something broad and flat in form

The flat part, or side, of anything; as, the broad side of a blade, as distinguished from its edge.

A floor, loft, or story in a building;

A horizontal vein or ore deposit auxiliary to a main vein; also, any horizontal portion of a vein not elsewhere horizontal.

A dull fellow; a simpleton; a numskull.

A character [$] before a note, indicating a tone which is a half step or semitone lower.

A homaloid space or extension.

To make flat; to flatten; to level.

To render dull, insipid, or spiritless; to depress.

To depress in tone, as a musical note; especially, to lower in pitch by half a tone.

To become flat, or flattened; to sink or fall to an even surface.

To fall form the pitch.

A level tract of land

A shallow box in which seedlings are started

A musical notation indicating one half step lower than the note named

Freight car without permanent sides or roof

A deflated pneumatic tire

Scenery consisting of a wooden frame covered with painted canvas; part of a stage setting

A suite of rooms usually on one floor of an apartment house

Having a horizontal surface in which no part is higher or lower than another;

Having no depth or thickness

Not modified or restricted by reservations;

Stretched out and lying at full length along the ground;

Lacking contrast or shading between tones

Lowered in pitch by one chromatic semitone;

Flattened laterally along the whole length (e.g., certain leafstalks or flatfishes)

Lacking taste or flavor or tang;

Lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting;

Having lost effervescence;

Not increasing as the amount taxed increases

Not made with leavening;

Parallel to the ground;

Without pleats

Lacking the expected range or depth; not designed to give an illusion or depth;

(of a tire) completely or partially deflated

Not reflecting light; not glossy;

Lacking variety in shading;

At full length;

With flat sails;

Below the proper pitch;

Against a flat surface;

In a forthright manner; candidly or frankly;

Wholly or completely;

No, apartments can also be owned, particularly in structures known as condominiums where individuals own their apartments.

Not necessarily, but flats are less likely than apartments to have luxurious amenities.

An apartment is a self-contained unit within a larger building, often with shared amenities, commonly found in the U.S.

A flat is a British term for a self-contained housing unit that occupies part of a building, typically without ownership.

In general conversation, they can be, though regional differences in terminology might lead to confusion in specific contexts.

Size can vary widely for both, but there is no inherent size difference associated with the terms "apartment" or "flat." Both terms simply refer to a self-contained housing unit.

Apartments are common in both urban and suburban areas in the U.S., often in larger, purpose-built complexes. Flats, particularly in the U.K., can also be located in urban areas but are frequently found in converted houses or smaller buildings.

The cost can vary based on location, size, and amenities rather than the terminology itself. In general, urban apartments in the U.S. might be pricier due to their association with luxury amenities.

Yes, both apartments and flats can be part of gated communities, although this is more common with apartments in the U.S., where such complexes often include additional security features.

Architecturally, the main difference lies in regional building styles and historical influences rather than the terms themselves. Flats in the U.K. might often be part of older, converted buildings, whereas apartments in the U.S. are frequently designed as part of modern multi-unit complexes.