A ghetto is a part of a city in which many poor people or many people of a particular race, religion, or nationality live separately from everyone else.
...the black ghettos of New York and Los Angeles.
...the gang kids who will never escape the ghetto.
ghetto in British English
(ˈɡɛtəʊ)
nounWord forms: plural-tos or -toes
1. sociology
a densely populated slum area of a city inhabited by a socially and economically deprived minority
2.
an area in a European city in which Jews were formerly required to live
3.
a group or class of people that is segregated in some way
Word origin
C17: from Italian, perhaps shortened from borghetto, diminutive of borgo settlement outside a walled city; or from the Venetian ghetto the medieval iron-founding district, largely inhabited by Jews
ghetto in American English
(ˈgɛtoʊ)
nounWord forms: pluralˈghettos or ˈghettoes
1.
in certain European cities, a section to which Jews were formerly restricted
2.
any section of a city in which many members of some minority group live, or to whichthey are restricted as by economic pressure or social discrimination
Word origin
It, lit., foundry (< gettare, to pour < VL *jectare, for L jactare, to throw, cast), name of a quarter in Venice occupied by Jews, orig. location ofa cannon foundry
Examples of 'ghetto' in a sentence
ghetto
My mother begged me to escape and hide till the selection of our area of the ghetto was over.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
But is it enough to make the problem of the Black ghetto the social responsibility of management?
Peter F. Drucker MANAGEMENT: task, responsibilities, practices (1974)
Decades of neglect have led to gangs, ghettos and antisocial behaviour.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Ideas come from anywhere, not just from a ghetto of creative people.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
I grew up in the ghetto area of Brooklyn.
The Sun (2009)
Seldom do people leave the ghetto to shop, play, or do business.
Christianity Today (2000)
But if the Government puts us in a ghetto area, why do we react by killing each other?
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
In other languages
ghetto
British English: ghetto NOUN
A ghetto is a part of a city in which many poor people or many people of a particular race, religion, or nationality live separately from everyone else.
...the black ghettoes of New York and Los Angeles.