slum

American  

[sluhm] / slʌm /

noun

1. Often slums. a thickly populated, run-down, squalid part of a city, inhabited by poor people.

2. any squalid, run-down place to live.

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verb (used without object)

slummed, slumming

1. to visit slums, especially from curiosity.

2. to visit or frequent a place, group, or amusement spot considered to be low in social status.

slum British  

/ slʌm /

noun

1. a squalid overcrowded house, etc

2. (often plural) a squalid section of a city, characterized by inferior living conditions and usually by overcrowding

3. (modifier) of, relating to, or characteristic of slums

   slum conditions

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verb

1. to visit slums, esp for curiosity

2. Also: slum it.  to suffer conditions below those to which one is accustomed

Other Word Forms

• deslum verb (used with object)
• slummer noun
• slummy adjective

Etymology

Origin of slum

1805–15; compare earlier argot slum room; origin obscure

Example Sentences

Every morning, Shakuntala Devi and Shakiba Bibi - neighbours at a slum in India's capital Delhi - leave their homes, walking from one shop to another in search of a cooking gas cylinder.

From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026

I would imagine with some squirrelly pablum about valuing their feedback and pointing out that user experiences may vary because—as no site is likely to admit—someone’s paradise is someone else’s slum, and vice versa.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

She learnt that the child lived in a slum and could not afford to go to school.

From BBC • Feb. 18, 2026

“I’ve never been, nor will I ever become a magnate,” Maduro said in a speech at a Christmas dinner in a Caracas slum just before breaking into a folk song.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 30, 2025

I’ve lived in a slum all my life.

From "Twelve Angry Men" by Reginald Rose

Related Words

• rookery