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
Recent Examples on the Web
In the 1950s, de Jesus kept a diary that chronicled her struggles to earn an income and feed her three children in a poor, urban community known as a favela in Sao Paulo.
—
ABC News, 17 Feb. 2026
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
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ABC News, 17 Feb. 2026
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
See All Example Sentences for favela
Cite this Entry
“Favela.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/favela. Accessed 22 Feb. 2026.
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