Hooverville

American  

[hoo-ver-vil] / ˈhu vərˌvɪl /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of Hooverville

After (Herbert) Hoover, then-president of the United States + -ville )

Example Sentences

They called it Hoover Town — a variation of Hooverville, the title given to many such homeless camps around the nation in sardonic tribute to President Hoover.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2025

He’s there when Mason visits the Gallardo family’s Hooverville to ferret out the initial tip about Ozzie and his Converse shoes.

From New York Times • Apr. 3, 2023

April’s numbers are more on par with the 1931 unemployment rate, based on data drawn from the Historical Statistics of the United States.1 For the moment, we’re living in Hooverville.

From Slate • May 8, 2020

As banks failed, businesses closed and workers were laid off, a notorious Hooverville was erected south of downtown.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 10, 2017

And now in my mind I stood upon the walk looking out across the hole past a Hooverville shanty of packing cases and bent tin signs, to a railroad yard that lay beyond.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison