sweatshop
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of sweatshop
Explanation
A sweatshop is a factory where workers are exploited and not allowed to unionize. You might not sweat in a sweatshop, but you probably work hard and under lousy conditions. In a sweatshop, workers slave away in poor conditions for low pay. Sweatshop workers — who often make clothing — aren't allowed to form unions, so they cannot protest their poor working conditions. In repressive countries that aren't looking out for their citizens, you're more likely to find sweatshops. An American corporation that uses sweatshops overseas could find itself in a lot of trouble.
Vocabulary lists containing sweatshop
East Asia - Middle School
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East Asia - High School
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South Asia - Middle School and High School
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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:
The fashion-magazine moment is long gone as Miranda deals with such alarming new trends as budget cuts, the imperative to cram her vision into annoying little video clips, and consumer sensitivity to sweatshop manufacturing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
Both leaders famously clawed their way to the top from unlikely beginnings -- Lee worked in a sweatshop to support his family, while Lula dropped out of school to sell peanuts and shine shoes.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
They lived for a while in Harlem while his mother worked in a sweatshop and got by with the help of food stamps.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 15, 2024
There he ridiculed the Washington Post for publishing a photo gallery of child laborers from 100 years ago, including miners and sweatshop workers as young as 10.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2023
From upstairs wafted the smell of fresh paint; from downstairs, the site of the lone toilet, came the sounds of a sweatshop.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
“They’re not really sweatshops, but they’re as close as you can get to them,” Menon said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2025
At the moment, someone might be driving an SUV, might be eating lots of meat and might buying clothes that were made in sweatshops.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2023
The multinational technology company Apple Inc. has faced intense criticism in recent years for its use of foreign-owned sweatshops in Asia.
From Textbooks ● Dec. 14, 2022
Charles Kernaghan, who showed how U.S. aid subsidized the construction of sweatshops in developing countries, is dead at 74.
From New York Times ● Jun. 15, 2022
Fannie worked at one of two sweatshops owned and operated by the Marx & Haas Clothing Co., the largest clothing manufacturer in St. Louis.
From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell
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.
