as in favelas
a usually poor town or a part of a town where the people live in shanties
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Recent Examples of shantytowns
In the brightly billboarded carcass of a West Coast city, private security shields the corporate enclaves of a tech élite from the shantytowns of the economically superfluous.
—
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Their target was the Comando Vermelho (CV), or Red Command, a criminal organization that has ruled these hillside shantytowns for decades.
—Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025
Farmers once proud of living and working their ancestral land were driven into poverty and forced into shantytowns.
—Nik Kowsar, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
These new shantytowns are plagued with substance abuse, violence and prostitution.
—Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2025
Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Their target was the Comando Vermelho (CV), or Red Command, a criminal organization that has ruled these hillside shantytowns for decades.
—Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 9 Nov. 2025
Farmers once proud of living and working their ancestral land were driven into poverty and forced into shantytowns.
—Nik Kowsar, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
These new shantytowns are plagued with substance abuse, violence and prostitution.
—Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shantytowns
Noun
-
This particular tyrannosaur lived near the seaway’s western coast, which was full of jungles and forests.—
Laura Baisas,
Popular Science,
12 Mar. 2026
-
Swim or scuba through the crystal-clear cenotes, millennia-old sinkholes scattered throughout the nearby jungles—the cold waters make a refreshing alternative to Tulum's white-sand beaches.—
Carley Rojas Avila,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Bass has attributed the declines to her signature Inside Safe program, which clears encampments and places homeless people in short term housing.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Mar. 2026
-
Authorities say the tents blended in with homeless encampments, helping conceal trafficking and avoid detection by law enforcement while allowing the gang to control a network of dealers operating in the area.—
Teresa Liu,
Daily News,
6 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shantytowns.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shantytowns. Accessed 17 Mar. 2026.
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