favela
noun
fa·ve·la fə-ˈve-lə 
variants or less commonly favella
: a settlement of jerry-built shacks lying on the outskirts of a Brazilian city
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web In May, a police raid on another Rio favela killed 23 people, and last year, a shootout in a third slum left at least 29 people dead. 
Marina Lopes, Washington Post, 22 July 2022 Farther afield, Werllayne Nunes realistically paints an exuberant girl in front of a Brazilian favela transformed from slum to wonderland by the insertion of fanciful gold-leaf domes. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 24 June 2022 Elza Gomes da Conceição was born in a Rio favela, or slum, known as Moça Bonita on June 23, 1930. Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2022 Most of the favela and low-income population in Brazil depend entirely on the SUS for health care, and many middle-class citizens use SUS for routine vaccinations and emergency care. Claudio Araujo, Scientific American, 18 May 2022 Local officials had promised to extend garbage pickup and other basic services to the favela, home to 18,000 people. Siobhan Reid, Vogue, 20 Apr. 2022 Elza Soares, the samba singer whose meteoric rise from the favela to stardom was later eclipsed by a scandalous affair with one of Brazil’s most famous soccer stars, died on Thursday at her home in Rio de Janeiro. Michael Astor, New York Times, 20 Jan. 2022 In May, police killed at least 25 people in an early-morning police raid on a criminal gang that holds control over a favela in Rio de Janeiro. Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2021 Rio's police claim that the May 6 operation in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio's north zone was the result of 10 months of intelligence gathering. DÉbora Álvares, Star Tribune, 9 May 2021 See More
Marina Lopes, Washington Post, 22 July 2022 Farther afield, Werllayne Nunes realistically paints an exuberant girl in front of a Brazilian favela transformed from slum to wonderland by the insertion of fanciful gold-leaf domes. Mark Jenkins, Washington Post, 24 June 2022 Elza Gomes da Conceição was born in a Rio favela, or slum, known as Moça Bonita on June 23, 1930. Washington Post, 25 Jan. 2022 Most of the favela and low-income population in Brazil depend entirely on the SUS for health care, and many middle-class citizens use SUS for routine vaccinations and emergency care. Claudio Araujo, Scientific American, 18 May 2022 Local officials had promised to extend garbage pickup and other basic services to the favela, home to 18,000 people. Siobhan Reid, Vogue, 20 Apr. 2022 Elza Soares, the samba singer whose meteoric rise from the favela to stardom was later eclipsed by a scandalous affair with one of Brazil’s most famous soccer stars, died on Thursday at her home in Rio de Janeiro. Michael Astor, New York Times, 20 Jan. 2022 In May, police killed at least 25 people in an early-morning police raid on a criminal gang that holds control over a favela in Rio de Janeiro. Washington Post, 31 Oct. 2021 Rio's police claim that the May 6 operation in the Jacarezinho favela of Rio's north zone was the result of 10 months of intelligence gathering. DÉbora Álvares, Star Tribune, 9 May 2021 See More Word History
Etymology
Brazilian Portuguese favela, perhaps from Favela, hill outside Rio de Janeiro
First Known Use
1946, in the meaning defined above
favelas
noun
as in shantytowns
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- shantytowns
- jungles
- encampments
- campsites
- Hoovervilles
- canvasses
- bivouacs
- campgrounds
- camps
- settlements
- plantations
- hutments
- canvases
- colonies
- barracks
- cantonments
- installations
- tentages
- leaguers
- posts
- laagers
