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View synonyms for

slum

[ sluhm ]

noun

  1. Often slums. a thickly populated, run-down, squalid part of a city, inhabited by poor people.
  2. any squalid, run-down place to live.


verb (used without object)

slummed, slumming.
  1. to visit slums, especially from curiosity.
  2. to visit or frequent a place, group, or amusement spot considered to be low in social status.

slum

/ ʌ /

noun

  1. a squalid overcrowded house, etc
  2. often plural a squalid section of a city, characterized by inferior living conditions and usually by overcrowding
  3. modifier of, relating to, or characteristic of slums

    slum conditions

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to visit slums, esp for curiosity
  2. Alsoslum it to suffer conditions below those to which one is accustomed
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˈܳ, adjective
  • ˈܳ, noun
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Other Word Forms

  • ܳm noun
  • ·ܳ verb (used with object) deslummed deslumming
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Word History and Origins

Origin of slum1

1805–15; compare earlier argot slum room; origin obscure
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Word History and Origins

Origin of slum1

C19: originally slang, of obscure origin
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

When a mentally disturbed neighbor sets herself on fire and a slumlord tries to extort money from them, the family gets tangled in the corruption that keeps a stranglehold on the slum’s inhabitants.

From

With no access to water supply networks, people in the slums rely on drinking water that is delivered by truck.

From

The formidable actress is slumming here, unable to connect with the thin character or material.

From

On a bright summer morning in May 1996, six boys from a slum in Kolkata, the capital of India's West Bengal state, stepped out to play cricket in a narrow alley.

From

Seen from one of the city’s comfortable apartment blocks or homes, then yes, perhaps – from one of its densely packed slums, then no.

From

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