Spanish Conversation · Level 134
45 words
Spanish word
favela
Pronunciation
IPA/faˈβela/
Meaning
- feminine nounslum
Example
Ella vive en una favela cerca del centro.
She lives in a slum near the city center.
More examples
La vida en la favela muestra la solidaridad entre vecinos.
Life in the slum shows solidarity among neighbors.
Core concept
Poor informal neighborhood with improvised housing and scarce services commonly found in Brazilian cities.
Common phrases
vida en la favela
life in the slum
proyecto en la favela
project in the slum
jóvenes de la favela
young people from the slum
Similar words
barrio: Urban neighborhood or district where people live, a general neutral term.
barriada: Poor residential area with inadequate services and simple low-quality housing.
asentamiento: Settlement where residents build simple dwellings themselves, often without formal tenure.
villa miseria: Informal impoverished housing settlement in Argentina made up of makeshift homes.
Definition in Spanish
Término que se refiere a un barrio pobre con viviendas improvisadas y falta de servicios, usado especialmente para describir zonas populares en Brasil.
Word origin
Borrowed from Portuguese favela, originally the name of a shrub and a Rio hill that lent its name to the improvised, low-income neighborhoods that grew there.
Usage tips
- Because favela can sound evocative or pejorative in conversation, speakers often use a neutral alternative such as barrio pobre when a less charged term is appropriate.
Other meanings
- shantytownnoun
Opposites
- zona acomodadaaffluent areanoun