ghetto

American  

[get-oh] / ˈgɛt oʊ /

noun

plural

ghettos, ghettoes

1. a section of a city, especially a thickly populated slum area, inhabited predominantly by members of an ethnic or other minority group, often as a result of social pressures or economic hardships.

2. (formerly, in most European countries) a section of a city in which all Jews were required to live.

3. any mode of living, working, etc., that results from stereotyping or biased treatment.

   job ghettos for women; ghettos for the elderly.

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adjective

1. pertaining to or characteristic of life in a ghetto or the people who live there.

   ghetto culture.

2. Slang: Often Disparaging and Offensive. noting something that is considered to be unrefined, low-class, cheap, or inferior.

ghetto British  

/ ˈɡɛtəʊ /

noun

1. sociol a densely populated slum area of a city inhabited by a socially and economically deprived minority

2. an area in a European city in which Jews were formerly required to live

3. a group or class of people that is segregated in some way

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Etymology

Origin of ghetto

First recorded in 1605–15; from Italian, originally the name of an island near Venice where Jews were forced to reside in the 16th century, from Venetian dialect: literally, “foundry for artillery” (giving the island its name); futher origin uncertain

Explanation

Ghetto means a crowded poor part of a city lived in by a specific ethnic group. The word is powerful, often associated with a rich cultural heritage or a sense of shame and a desire to escape. While most ghettos are formed through social forces (immigration, real estate values, public housing), in European cities during the time of the Nazi Holocaust (1939-1944), Jews were required by law to live in designated, often walled ghettos. Today, the word ghetto can also be used to describe non-geographic, but similarly cut off situations where one might feel stuck: "the academic ghetto."

Example Sentences

Holocaust Memorial Museum had used the term in translating a text about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising into Arabic.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

One passage describes how Rachel Schwartz, 93, “arrived in Detroit with her sister in 1946 after surviving the Holocaust, including the Warsaw Ghetto, three concentration camps, and a death march.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 15, 2025

Holocaust Remembrance Day, marked on the anniversary of the outbreak of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, has traditionally been a time for Israelis to gather and listen to testimony from survivors.

From Seattle Times • May 4, 2024

Years ago, a favourite tune was Ghetto Dub by DJ Probe & Sylo.

From BBC • Jan. 12, 2024

The Ghetto Act, which had prompted the Indian protests, barely affected Africans.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela