shantytown

American  

[shan-tee-toun] / ˈʃæn tiˌtaʊn /

noun

1. a section, as of a city or town characterized by shanties and crudely built houses.

2. a whole town or city that is chiefly made up of shantylike houses.

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shantytown British  

/ ˈʃæntɪˌtaʊn /

noun

1. a town or section of a town or city inhabited by very poor people living in shanties, esp in a developing country

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Etymology

Origin of shantytown

First recorded in 1880–85; shanty ¹ + town

Example Sentences

This contributed to the creation of shantytowns surrounding urban centers in Tehran and other cities.

From The Wall Street Journal

Some 50,000 people are expected in Belem, which is home to 1.4 million residents, more than half of whom live in shantytowns.

From Barron's

As a result, many of them settled in shantytowns on the city’s outskirts, living in makeshift sheet-metal homes.

From Los Angeles Times

A sense of despair has engulfed the migrant camp of La Soledad, named after the colonial-era church that towers over the shantytown in downtown Mexico City.

From Los Angeles Times

Their shantytown, nestled in the middle-class neighbourhood of Jodhpur Park, thrummed with life.

From BBC