variants
or less commonly favella
: a settlement of jerry-built shacks lying on the outskirts of a Brazilian city
Examples of favela in a Sentence
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His relationship with film is inextricably linked with his home town, Recife—a port city where attractive beaches and high-rise developments coexist with sprawling favelas and rampant crime.
—
Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
Marques is now participating in the growing trend of playing altinha on the street courts of Rio's favelas — its lowest-income neighborhoods — instead of on the beach.
—Michal Ruprecht, NPR, 28 Dec. 2025
Poor Indigenous, Black, the people from the favelas, when the police go there and kill 120 people there, and the population basically claps and thinks that that’s great.
—Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 2 Dec. 2025
In Brazil, Funk Brasilero, a genre deriving from the favelas and peripheries of major cities, has been around for a decade or more now, but deserves to expand beyond the country.
—Rosamaria Garces, Billboard, 24 Nov. 2025
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Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2026
Marques is now participating in the growing trend of playing altinha on the street courts of Rio's favelas — its lowest-income neighborhoods — instead of on the beach.
—Michal Ruprecht, NPR, 28 Dec. 2025
Poor Indigenous, Black, the people from the favelas, when the police go there and kill 120 people there, and the population basically claps and thinks that that’s great.
—Marcus Jones, IndieWire, 2 Dec. 2025
In Brazil, Funk Brasilero, a genre deriving from the favelas and peripheries of major cities, has been around for a decade or more now, but deserves to expand beyond the country.
—Rosamaria Garces, Billboard, 24 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for favela
Cite this Entry
“Favela.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/favela. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.
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