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

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.

Example Sentences

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

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 • Jan. 26, 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

Alexandra continued being the decaying shantytown it was before I was born.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane