squatter

American  

[skwot-er] / ˈskwɒt ər /

noun

• squatters
  plural

1. a person or thing that squats.

2. a person who settles on land or occupies property without title, right, or payment of rent.

3. a person who settles on land under government regulation, in order to acquire title.

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squatter British  

/ ˈskwɒtə /

noun

1. a person who occupies property or land to which he has no legal title

2. 1. (formerly) a person who occupied a tract of land, esp pastoral land, as tenant of the Crown

   2. a farmer of sheep or cattle on a large scale

3. (in New Zealand) a 19th-century settler who took up large acreage on a Crown lease

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• squatterdom
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• squatters
  plural

Etymology

Origin of squatter

First recorded in 1775–85; squat + -er ¹

Explanation

A squatter is someone who lives on unoccupied land or in a vacant building without permission from the owner. Some squatters move into abandoned homes because they have nowhere else to live, while others are part of social movements that see squatting as a response to political and economic systems that have made housing inaccessible for many. While in some places it's a crime to be a squatter, other jurisdictions view squatting as a conflict between the squatter and the owner. An earlier definition of squatter was "settler who doesn't (yet) have a title to the land."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

squatter squatters

The device is squatter and wider than Samsung’s previous foldables.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026

“At least I eat sometimes,” said Cedric Mnisi, 39, who lives in a squatter camp nearby.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2025

She excelled on stage and screen in Alan Bennett’s “The Lady in the Van,” playing a crotchety squatter with an imperious sense of entitlement.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024

This was a squatter camp outside Johannesburg in 1994 as South Africa prepared to vote in its first non-racial elections.

From BBC ● May 25, 2024

She had been a squatter for almost fifteen years, and the city had finally decided to sell the apartments to her and the other squatters for one dollar apiece.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls

Some squatters stayed behind, Ridi said, and in recent weeks they have stolen his sleep, privacy and sense of security.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026

The corner lot on which the club stands is now surrounded by hundreds of dilapidated and abandoned buildings occupied by squatters.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 22, 2025

In his video, Mr Perry said when squatters were staying in the building it had been "sectioned off into bedrooms" and "rented out to people in the most vulnerable of conditions".

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025

He said the former library building, which is being repurposed into an Asian Resource Centre, had also had squatters living in it.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025

More squatters came and more squatters came, putting up makeshift shacks and shanties.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah

Related Words

• settler