shantytown
Americannoun
-
a section, as of a city or town characterized by shanties and crudely built houses.
-
a whole town or city that is chiefly made up of shantylike houses.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of shantytown
Explanation
A shantytown is a makeshift settlement established by impoverished people. India, Pakistan, and Mexico all currently have fairly large shantytowns. A shanty is a rough dwelling, a word that derives from Scottish Gaelic roots meaning "old" and "house." A community made up of shanties, built from foraged materials like wood, metal, and cardboard, and inhabited by people experiencing homelessness and poverty, is a shantytown. Most of them are found in developing countries, but thousands of Americans lived in shantytowns during the Great Depression, and wealthy cities including Madrid and Los Angeles are home to shantytowns today.
Vocabulary lists containing shantytown
South America - Middle School
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Great Depression and The New Deal
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
South America - High School
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
In 1953, a fire destroyed a shantytown called Shek Kip Mei, leaving more than 53,000 people homeless.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 27, 2025
Their shantytown, nestled in the middle-class neighbourhood of Jodhpur Park, thrummed with life.
From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2024
But as the Kurdish refugee from Iran quickly realized, dreams and despair were intertwined in the shantytown known as the Jungle.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 29, 2023
At the Pyramid Hotel, an 11th-floor restaurant offers panoramic views of the Nile and an adjoining shantytown.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2023
In the early nineties, Father Jack left St. Mary’s to serve the needs of a church in a shantytown called Carabayllo, outside of Lima.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
The clandestine artisanal miners, many from neighbouring countries, have become an entrenched presence in the shantytowns that ring Johannesburg and its satellite settlements along the gold reef.
From Barron's ● Jan. 23, 2026
This contributed to the creation of shantytowns surrounding urban centers in Tehran and other cities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 16, 2025
As a result, many of them settled in shantytowns on the city’s outskirts, living in makeshift sheet-metal homes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2025
They also revealed how poor people, who live in sprawling shantytowns without access to proper roads, water or power, bear the biggest brunt of destructive floods.
From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
At least one million, and perhaps as many as two million, were homeless, living on the streets or in shantytowns like Seattle’s Hooverville.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
