ghetto
ghetto Lexical Profile
ghetto Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A poor, densely populated urban area occupied primarily by a minority group or groups as a result of social, legal, or economic pressures.
"Community organizers worked tirelessly to improve housing conditions and educational access in the inner-city ghetto."
A walled or restricted quarter in a European city to which Jewish people were historically confined by law.
"During World War II, the occupying forces established a tightly controlled ghetto in the center of Warsaw."
An isolated or segregated group, area, or sphere of activity.
"The author argued that science fiction had finally broken out of its literary ghetto into the mainstream."
• adjective
Relating to, characteristic of, or situated in an impoverished, segregated urban neighborhood.
"The documentary examined the systemic challenges facing ghetto schools in the mid-twentieth century."
Shabby, makeshift, cheap, or of inferior quality (slang, often derogatory).
"He fixed the broken bumper with a ghetto rig of duct tape and coat hangers."
• verb
To isolate, segregate, or confine a group or activity to a restricted area or marginalized position.
"Discriminatory housing policies effectively ghettoed newly arrived immigrants into neglected districts."
Word Nuance & Usage
When used as a slang adjective to mean 'shabby', 'makeshift', or 'low-class', this word carries strong socio-economic and racial undertones and is widely considered derogatory and offensive in formal or polite contexts.
• Rhymes for ghetto
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the early 17th century from Italian 'ghetto', originally referring to the 'Ghetto Nuovo' ('New Foundry'), the island in Venice where Jews were legally required to reside starting in 1516, from Venetian 'ghèto' ('foundry'), derived from 'getar' ('to cast or pour metal').