favela

noun fa·ve·la \ fə-ˈve-lə \

variants: or less commonly favella

|Updated on: 9 Jun 2018

Definition of favela

: a settlement of jerry-built shacks lying on the outskirts of a Brazilian city

Recent Examples of favela from the Web

Dado Galdieri—Bloomberg/Getty Images Franco, a popular local LGBTQ and human rights activist, grew up in one of Rio’s largest favelas, and rose to political prominence by denouncing economic inequality and police brutality.

— eli meixler, Time, "The Violent Death of a Progressive Rio Politician Has Prompted Mass Mourning and Protests in Brazil," 16 Mar. 2018
Fears of police excesses were heightened when soldiers were seen searching the backpacks of young school children and taking photos and gathering information of residents of some favelas.

— Washington Post, "Military takeover in Rio sparks fears of police brutality," 28 Feb. 2018
Your business-intelligence analyst title won’t sound as interesting at EDM festivals compared with your friend’s project to raise $10,000 and clean up a few tenements in a Rio de Janeiro favela.

— andy kessler, WSJ, "Advice to New Grads: Scale or Bail," 20 May 2018
She was known for social work in poor and marginalized shantytowns, or favelas, and for her outspokenness against police violence.

— Fox News, "Rio police recreate murder scene of black councilwoman," 10 May 2018
One week later, eight young men were killed by police in Rocinha, Rio de Janeiro’s largest favela.

— kiratiana freelon, The Root, "‘Genocide of Black People’: The Killing of Afro-Brazilians by Police Is an Injustice Marielle Franco Was Fighting to End," 26 Apr. 2018
Her last post on Twitter called attention to the murder of a young favela resident.

— Washington Post, "Protests, anger a month after Brazil activist slain," 14 Apr. 2018
Since then, the situation has worsened, and President Michel Temer has deployed the Brazilian military to stage an intervention in the favelas of Rio.

— nicole froio, Teen Vogue, "Marielle Franco's Assassination Sparked Protests Across Brazil and Latin America," 21 Mar. 2018
People crowded into slums, shantytowns and favelas from where they were hard put to reach jobs.

— The Economist, "Shining light on Latin America’s homicide epidemic," 5 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'favela.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.