shantytown — A poor area of a town or city consisting of makeshift shacks built from scrap materials, often lacking proper sanitation or infrastructure.
Part of speech: NOUN
Definition: A poor area of a town or city consisting of makeshift shacks built from scrap materials, often lacking proper sanitation or infrastructure.
Pronunciation (IPA): /ˈʃæn.tiˌtaʊn/
Example Sentences
- My uncle jokes that his messy garage looks like a shantytown for old tools.
- The government promised to replace the shantytown with proper housing, but nothing has changed in ten years.
- In video games, shantytowns are often used as atmospheric settings to show a dystopian, poverty-stricken world.
shantytown
NOUN[/ˈʃæn.tiˌtaʊn/]
A poor area of a town or city consisting of makeshift shacks built from scrap materials, often lacking proper sanitation or infrastructure.

Families in the shantytown build homes from scrap metal on the muddy hillside.
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🎤Pronunciation
🌳Etymology
Origin
Possibly from Canadian French 'chantier' (logger's hut) or Irish 'sean tigh' (old house), combined with Old English 'tun' meaning village.
Breakdown
shanty (makeshift hut) + town (settlement)
🎵Rhyme
🔗Collocations
📝Examples
“My uncle jokes that his messy garage looks like a shantytown for old tools.”
“The government promised to replace the shantytown with proper housing, but nothing has changed in ten years.”
“In video games, shantytowns are often used as atmospheric settings to show a dystopian, poverty-stricken world.”
“After the earthquake, a temporary shantytown popped up almost overnight near the ruined city center.”
📚Related Words
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