as in jungle
a usually poor town or a part of a town where the people live in shanties
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Recent Examples of shantytown
Born in December 1963, the fifth of seven siblings, Lee grew up in Seongnam, a city near the southeastern edge of Seoul that, by the time his family settled there in 1976, was known as a neighborhood for those who had been evicted from the capital’s shantytowns.
—
Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025
At the same time, authorities in the Spanish capital are dismantling Toni’s neighborhood, a sort of makeshift shantytown no longer commonplace — or deemed right and proper — in wealthy western Europe.
—Adam Solomons, IndieWire, 19 May 2025
On a trip from Cape Town to Pretoria, a reporter grapples with the whiplash of traveling through South Africa’s two worlds, from majestic mountains to struggling shantytowns.
—Lee-Ann Olwage, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
In Lebanon, where there are no official camps for refugees, over a million Syrians reside in informal settlements and shantytowns.
—Sonia Shah, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2015
See All Example Sentences for shantytown
Max Kim, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025
At the same time, authorities in the Spanish capital are dismantling Toni’s neighborhood, a sort of makeshift shantytown no longer commonplace — or deemed right and proper — in wealthy western Europe.
—Adam Solomons, IndieWire, 19 May 2025
On a trip from Cape Town to Pretoria, a reporter grapples with the whiplash of traveling through South Africa’s two worlds, from majestic mountains to struggling shantytowns.
—Lee-Ann Olwage, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
In Lebanon, where there are no official camps for refugees, over a million Syrians reside in informal settlements and shantytowns.
—Sonia Shah, Foreign Affairs, 10 Nov. 2015
See All Example Sentences for shantytown
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shantytown
Noun
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Then came a double-breasted Prince of Wales check linen suit (Solbiati) lined with a tropical jungle print, and then the green linen suit (also Caccioppoli).—
Eric Wilson,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Sep. 2025
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Travelers can choose homestays and go on eco-tourist adventures in the numerous tribes, such as white-water rafting or jungle safaris.—
Kathleen Wong,
USA Today,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Children play with a ball in front of a mural depicting the Brazilian World Cup football team at the Rocinha favela in Rio de Janeiro on November 23, 2022.—
Micah McCartney,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Sep. 2025
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This début novel is a chronicle of Rocinha, a favela in Rio de Janeiro, and follows the efforts of a group of male friends to score drugs, make a few dollars, and inch toward a better life.—
The New Yorker,
New Yorker,
28 July 2025
Noun
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The latter shooting occurred at an encampment in a vacant parking lot the city has previously attempted to close, according to Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.—
James Powel,
USA Today,
17 Sep. 2025
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Her car sputtered to a stop in the middle of the road near a crowded homeless encampment under the freeway.—
Laura Kwerel,
NPR,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Our lead, Joe Rance (Callum Turner), trudges to campus from a Hooverville; later, the coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton), pokes around his crew’s lockers to count the holes in their shoes.—
Amy Nicholson,
New York Times,
24 Dec. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Shantytown.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shantytown. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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