Meanings
proper noun
- A city, the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States.
Founded in 1876 by disheartened gold prospectors, today downtown Rapid City is a mix of historic landmarks such as the 1928 Hotel Alex Johnson and the 1912 Elks Theatre, along with restaurants, coffee shops, specialty stores, boutiques and art galleries that reflect the busy modern city.
2025 August 19, Tanya Manus, “‘Far more than just Mount Rushmore’: A closer look at Rapid City”, in CNN, archived from the original on 22 Aug 2025
Origin
Named after Rapid Creek, which has many rapids.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
Rapid City. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rapid%20City
MLA
“Rapid City.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rapid%20City. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Rapid City,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Rapid%20City.
Source: Rapid City on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.