Word
cesspool
US/ˈsɛsˌpuɫ/
UK/sˈɛspuːl/
Countable noun
Definition
n. a large hole in the ground for collecting waste water and sewage from a house. It is also used to describe a place that is very dirty or full of bad things.
n. an underground pit for the collection and storage of liquid waste and sewage. Frequently used metaphorically to describe a place or situation that is morally corrupt or physically disgusting.
Examples
“The old house had a hidden cesspool in the backyard.”
“Before modern plumbing was installed, every home in the village relied on a private cesspool that required regular emptying.”
“The investigative journalist described the city's political landscape as a cesspool of corruption, where every public contract was traded for personal favors.”
Examples
simple
“The old house had a hidden cesspool in the backyard.”
contextual
“Before modern plumbing was installed, every home in the village relied on a private cesspool that required regular emptying.”
complex
“The investigative journalist described the city's political landscape as a cesspool of corruption, where every public contract was traded for personal favors.”
Collocations
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “cesspool” in context.
Verb
01. cesspool overflows
“Heavy rains caused the old cesspool to overflow into the garden.”
noun + verb
02. cesspool reeks
“The open cesspool reeks of sewage in the summer heat.”
noun + verb
03. cleanse cesspool
“The new administration promised to cleanse the political cesspool of corruption.”
verb + noun
04. drain cesspool
“Engineers were called in to drain the overflowing cesspool behind the house.”
verb + noun
Adjective
05. literal cesspool
“Before modern plumbing, the city streets were a literal cesspool.”
adj + noun
06. moral cesspool
“The tabloid media was described as a moral cesspool of lies and intrusion.”
adj + noun
07. stinking cesspool
“The neglected basement had become a stinking cesspool of stagnant water.”
adj + noun
Noun
08. cesspool of corruption
“The investigation revealed that the department was a cesspool of corruption.”
noun + prep + noun
09. cesspool of iniquity
“Victorian reformers viewed the slums as a cesspool of iniquity.”
noun + prep + noun
10. become a cesspool of
“The online forum has become a cesspool of hate speech and misinformation.”
11. wallow in a cesspool
“The movie was criticized for wallowing in a cesspool of gratuitous violence.”
Usage
Often used in the figurative sense to describe social or moral decay.
Real-World Examples
“So we are either on the verge of a small (but necessary) course correction to response balance to social media -- or an irreversible swerve into a cesspool of unmoderated content.” “It had an advanced sanitary infrastructure in the 1960s but that broke down decades ago, turning waterways into cesspools whose stench is compounded by the hot desert climate.” “The US has pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council, calling it a "cesspool of political bias".” “CNN has attempted to tap into the cesspool in order to drive traffic to its site, which has ultimately created conflict between its brand and its perceived authority.” Etymology
The word emerged as sesspool, though its precise lineage remains a matter of unsettled accounts. One possibility is a simple geographical compound of the Italian cesso, meaning a privy or toilet, and the English pool. Alternatively, it may be a variation of the dialectal suspool, derived from suss or soss, denoting a puddle or mire.
A more elaborate derivation suggests a case of folk etymology, where the influence of the word pool altered the earlier cesperalle. This was itself an alteration of the Middle English suspiral, a term for a vent or breather-hole. The trail leads back to the Middle French souspirail, from soupirer or souspirer, meaning to sigh or breathe.
The ultimate root is the Latin suspirare. This suggests that an architectural feature designed for the relief of air or the gentle act of breathing was, over time, reassigned to the containment of waste. It is a linguistic transition from the respiratory to the intestinal that the word has maintained ever since.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Synonyms
Related words
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.C2 ProficiencyIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.8.5–9.0TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 6.0114–120
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- C2 · Proficiency
- Updated
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