slum

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/slʌm/
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A poor and overcrowded urban district, a very dirty or neglected place, and the informal act of accepting rougher conditions for a time.
Practice using this word in conversation

Examples

  • Reporters were accused of slumming in the neighborhood for dramatic stories.
  • Many families in the slum lacked clean water and reliable electricity.
  • The basement looked like an absolute slum before the cleanup crew arrived.
  • She documented how insecure land tenure affected slum residents.
  • After the hotel lost their booking, they slummed it on a friend's floor.

Similar words

dump
hovel
squatter settlement
tenement district
shantytown
lower oneself
mess
eyesore
go slumming
favela

Meanings

Poor overcrowded urban area

noun
urban housing
neutral
A crowded city area where poverty, poor housing, and weak basic services make living conditions hard.

Usage

Use slum for a deprived urban district or settlement, especially where housing is unsafe, crowded, and poorly served.

Examples

  • Many families in the slum lacked clean water and reliable electricity.
  • The city funded a program to upgrade several slums instead of clearing them by force.
  • She documented how insecure land tenure affected slum residents.
  • New transit links connected the hillside slum with nearby jobs.
  • Public-health workers mapped sanitation problems in the slums around the port.

Common mistakes

A rich or merely expensive district is wrongly called a slum when poverty and bad housing are not involved.
IncorrectCorrect
The luxury tower became a slum because rents were high. The luxury tower became unaffordable because rents were high.
They live at a slum near the station. They live in a slum near the station.
The suburb was a slum of large clean houses. The suburb was a wealthy area of large clean houses.

Similar words

shantytown
favela
informal settlement
squatter settlement
tenement district
rookery

Very dirty or neglected place

noun
everyday
informal
A place, room, or building that is so dirty, untidy, or neglected that it feels unfit to live in.

Usage

Use slum in this informal sense for extreme filth or neglect, not for ordinary clutter.

Examples

  • After months of leaks and broken windows, the rental house had become a slum.
  • The basement looked like an absolute slum before the cleanup crew arrived.
  • He called the abandoned hostel a slum, with rubbish piled in every hallway.
  • The shared kitchen turned into a slum during the festival weekend.
  • Without repairs, the old boarding house slowly became a slum.

Common mistakes

An ordinary mess is overstated as a slum when the place is only untidy, not dirty or neglected.
IncorrectCorrect
My desk is a slum because three books are on it. My desk is messy because three books are on it.
The spotless kitchen looked like a slum after lunch. The kitchen looked messy after lunch.
The bedroom was in slum. The bedroom was a slum.

Similar words

dump
pigsty
hovel
mess
shambles
eyesore

Spend time in worse conditions

verb
social
informal
To spend time in places or conditions below one's usual standard, often temporarily and sometimes with curiosity or humor.

Usage

Use slum mainly in the forms slumming, go slumming, or slum it, and keep the informal tone in mind.

Examples

  • The backpackers decided to slum it in the cheapest hostel they could find.
  • Reporters were accused of slumming in the neighborhood for dramatic stories.
  • After the hotel lost their booking, they slummed it on a friend's floor.
  • He joked that flying economy was slumming it after years in business class.
  • The students went slumming in fashionable dive bars across the city.

Common mistakes

The verb is usually intransitive, so a direct object such as slum the area sounds wrong in standard use.
IncorrectCorrect
They slummed the neighborhood for a documentary. They went slumming in the neighborhood for a documentary.
We had to slum in economy class it. We had to slum it in economy class.
She slum in cheap hostels last summer. She slummed in cheap hostels last summer.

Similar words

rough it
make do
lower oneself
go slumming
slum it

Usage

Use the urban-housing noun with care because it can sound stigmatizing, keep the dirty-place sense informal, and use the verb mostly in set patterns such as slum it or go slumming.

Common mistakes

Calling an ordinary messy room a slum overstates the word, and slum the area is usually wrong for the verb.

Etymology

The noun began in early nineteenth-century British slang, probably from cant slum meaning a room or back room, but its deeper origin is unknown. The verb developed later from the noun.

FAQ

What does slum mean?

Slum usually means a crowded urban area marked by poverty, poor housing, and weak basic services.

Can slum describe a messy room?

Yes, but only informally and usually for extreme dirt, neglect, or disorder, not for ordinary clutter.

What does slum it mean?

To slum it means to accept conditions worse than one's usual standard, often temporarily or humorously.

Is slum offensive?

Slum can sound stigmatizing when used about communities, so neutral terms such as informal settlement may be better in policy or humanitarian contexts.

What are synonyms for slum?

Depending on context, synonyms include shantytown, favela, informal settlement, dump, and hovel.

What are the forms of the verb slum?

The main forms are slum, slums, slummed, and slumming.

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