ghetto

A poor part of a city, often home to a particular social or ethnic group.

• He grew up in a ghetto.
• The city invested in housing in the ghetto.
• Residents wanted better schools and jobs in their ghetto.

Similar words: slum

Common phrases: urban ghetto, live in a ghetto, poor ghetto

A city area where Jewish people were forced by law to live, especially under Nazi rule.

• They were forced into a ghetto.
• Walls separated the ghetto from the rest of the city.
• The museum tells the stories of families imprisoned in the ghetto.

Common phrases: Jewish ghetto, Warsaw ghetto, walled ghetto

Having grown up in a poor city area in the United States.

• He describes himself as a ghetto kid.
• Her ghetto upbringing shaped her view of the city.
• The novel follows a ghetto teenager through his first year at college.

Common phrases: ghetto kid, ghetto background, ghetto upbringing