Hooverville

[hoo-ver-vil]

noun

a collection of huts and shacks, as at the edge of a city, housing the unemployed during the 1930s.

Origin of Hooverville

H. Hoover + -ville, suffix in place names (< French: city < Latin; see villa)

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hooverville

Contemporary Examples of hooverville

Women could finally stop being Rosie the Riveter; men could stop living in Hooverville tents.
Grandma-in-Chief
Patricia J. Williams
November 26, 2008

Word Origin and History for hooverville

Hooverville

1933, American English, from U.S. president Herbert C. Hoover (1874-1964), who was in office when the Depression began, + common place-name ending -ville. Earlier his name was the basis of Hooverize "economize on food" (1917) from his role as wartime head of the U.S. Food Administration.