cesspool
Americannoun
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a cistern, well, or pit for retaining the sediment of a drain or for receiving the sewage from a house.
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any filthy receptacle or place.
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any place of moral filth or immorality.
a cesspool of iniquity.
noun
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Also called: sink. sump. a covered cistern, etc, for collecting and storing sewage or waste water
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a filthy or corrupt place
a cesspool of iniquity
Etymology
Origin of cesspool
1575–85; cess (< Italian cesso privy < Latin rēcessus recess, place of retirement) + pool 1
Explanation
Literally, a cesspool is place underground where sewage gathers, but figuratively, you might hear anything that's full of germs or just plain disgusting described as a cesspool. Either way, you'll want to steer clear. Think of a cesspool as an underground swimming pool full of nastiness, which of course rhymes with cess. But the word cesspool isn't just used to describe a storage place underground where sewage is held temporarily. It's also a term you might use to negatively describe something that's swimming in germs or corruption. Stuck on a long flight between two people with a cold? That's a cesspool of germs right there for you.
Vocabulary lists containing cesspool
Anthem
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The Jungle
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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.
It was into the post-noughties misogynist cesspool that the early feminist blogosphere was born, and initially, it was fun and freewheeling.
From Slate • Mar. 31, 2026
Some people, however, go as far as creating burner accounts just for shopping to keep the cesspool of targeted ads separate from their main profiles where they interact with family and friends.
From MarketWatch • Oct. 10, 2025
Aronofsky clearly adores this colorful pre-millennial cesspool, even if the characters in the movie are already grumbling that Rudy Giuliani is scrubbing the life out of the place.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 28, 2025
That’s a slippery slope into a cesspool I’d prefer to avoid.
From Salon • Feb. 15, 2025
Though it was a cesspool, Mamaji spoke of Deligny with a fond smile.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
