Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense, plural slums, present participle slumming, past tense, past participle slummed
1. countable noun [oft NOUN noun]
A slum is an area of a city where living conditions are very bad and where the houses are in bad condition.
...a slum area of St Louis.
...inner-city slums in the old cities of the north and east.
Synonyms: hovel, ghetto, shanty More Synonyms of slum
2. verb [usually cont]
If someone is slumming it or is slumming, they are spending time in a place or in conditions that are at a much lower social level than theyare used to.
...rich kids slumming it. [VERBit]
...aristocratic types who enjoyed slumming around in musty old castles. [VERB]
slum in British English
(slʌm)
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
verbWord forms: slums, slumming or slummed(intransitive)
4.
to visit slums, esp for curiosity
5. Also: slum it
to suffer conditions below those to which one is accustomed
Derived forms
slummer (ˈslummer)
noun
slummy (ˈslummy)
adjective
Word origin
C19: originally slang, of obscure origin
slum in American English
(slʌm)
noun
1.
a usually heavily populated area of a city, characterized by poverty, poor housing, etc.
2.
something considered to be like a slum, as in being dilapidated or dirty
verb intransitiveWord forms: slummed or ˈslumming
3.
to visit or tour slums, esp. for reasons held to be condescending
Derived forms
slummer (ˈslummer)
noun
slummy (ˈslummy)
adjectiveWord forms: ˈslummier or ˈslummiest
Word origin
c. 1800 < cant: orig. sense, a room < ?
Examples of 'slum' in a sentence
slum
It exposed the grotesque lack of hygiene in the teeming city slums.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Aerial photographs showed great swaths of slum dwellings flattened or swept away by landslides.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
House prices have shot up and the former slum dwellers are sitting pretty.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
But slums are equally bad for the morale of their occupants.
Brown, Muriel & Payne Sarah Introduction to Social Administration in Britain (1990)
The fact that actual slum conditions continue to exist at all is an indictment of the housing situation.
Brown, Muriel & Payne Sarah Introduction to Social Administration in Britain (1990)
As we moved slowly through the outskirts of the town we passed row after row of little grey slum houses.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Yesterday's violence was restricted to the slum areas of the capital.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In the housing field the answer was to have massive government investment programmes in so-called slum clearance.
Redwood, John The Global Marketplace (1993)
If we want any fun, we either find a slum landlord or move in with mum and dad.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In the largest slum, one million people eke out an existence in an area of less than a square mile.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Yesterday thousands cowered in shacks and flimsy slum dwellings as clashes continued and political leaders traded insults and accusations over who was responsible for the conflict.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The family lived in slum conditions: he once recalled a welfare officer coming to the house and asking where the bathroom was.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Now he is working in a restaurant earning 35,000 rupees a month and has moved out of the slum into a house of his own.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Filming in one of Africa's biggest slums was a powerful experience.
The Sun (2006)
The Duchess was on-trend with a boho chic look on a visit to the slums.
The Sun (2016)
But it is also one of Asia's biggest slums.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
By last night 211 people had been detained in the security forces' sweep through the slum area.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Word lists with
slum
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In other languages
slum
British English: slum /slʌm/ NOUN
A slum is an area of a city where living conditions are very bad.
...a slum area of the city.
American English: slum
Arabic: حَيُّ الْفُقَرَاءِ
Brazilian Portuguese: favela
Chinese: 贫民窟
Croatian: sirotinjska četvrt
Czech: slum
Danish: slum
Dutch: achterbuurt
European Spanish: barriada pobre
Finnish: slummi
French: taudis
German: Slum
Greek: τρώγλη
Italian: malfamato
Japanese: スラム街
Korean: 빈민가
Norwegian: slum
Polish: dzielnica nędzy
European Portuguese: bairro degradado
Romanian: cartier sărac
Russian: трущобы
Latin American Spanish: tugurio
Swedish: slum
Thai: สลัม สลัม
Turkish: gecekondu
Ukrainian: нетрі
Vietnamese: nhà ổ chuột
All related terms of 'slum'
slum area
an area of a city filled with slums
slum-dweller
someone who lives in a slum
slum dwelling
a squalid overcrowded house, etc
slum clearance
the removal for rehousing , by the state, of those people who previously lived in slum areas, to prepare the area for demolition and rebuilding
slum clearance area
an area that has been designated for, or been subject to, the rehousing of its inhabitants and subsequent demolition and rebuilding
slum clearance campaign
a campaign to rehouse those people who live in a slum area, and to prepare the area for demolition and rebuilding
slummed
a squalid overcrowded house, etc
Chinese translation of 'slum'
slum
(slʌm)
n(c)
(= house) 陋室 (lòushì) (间(間), jiān)
(= area) 贫(貧)民窟 (pínmínkū) (个(個), gè)
vt, vi
to be slumming (it)过(過)贫(貧)穷(窮)的生活 (guò pínqióng de shēnghuó)
(noun)
Definition
an overcrowded and badly maintained house
The city had the worst slums in Europe.
Synonyms
hovel
They lived in a squalid hovel for the next five years.