ENGLISH
REFERENCE

ghetto

n. · adj. · v.
US //ˈɡɛtoʊ// UK //ɡˈɛtəʊ// ghet·to
  1. 1 ethnic or poor urban area (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    a part of a city where many people of the same race or ethnic group live, often in poor conditions.

    a densely populated slum area of a city inhabited predominantly by a minority group or groups, often as a result of social or economic restrictions.

    Example

    The government is trying to improve housing in the city's poorest ghettos.

    Example

    Sociologists argue that systemic redlining effectively created urban ghettos by preventing minority families from securing mortgages in other neighbourhoods.
  2. 2 historical Jewish quarter (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    an area of a city where Jewish people were forced to live in the past.

    a quarter of a city in which Jews were formerly required to live by law, particularly in medieval Italy or Nazi-occupied Europe.

    Example

    Visitors can still see the gates of the old Jewish ghetto in Venice.

    Example

    The liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto remains one of the most tragic and well-documented chapters of the Holocaust.
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  1. 3 low quality or cheap (adj.)
    C1 Advanced Informal Slang

    something that looks cheap, broken, or poor quality.

    describing something perceived as low-quality, makeshift, or unrefined. Often carries derogatory class-based or racial connotations.

    Example

    He used a ghetto setup with duct tape to fix his broken car window.

    Example

    The students joked about their ghetto apartment, which featured a milk crate for a coffee table and a leaky ceiling.

    Teacher's tip

    This usage can be offensive as it often mocks poverty or relies on racial stereotypes; learners should use it with extreme caution.
  2. 4 to isolate a group (v.)
    C1 Advanced Formal

    to force a group of people to live in a certain area or stay in a certain social level.

    to restrict or confine a particular group to a specific area or a lower social status.

    Example

    The new laws threatened to ghetto the immigrant population even further.

    Example

    By failing to provide adequate public transport, the city council effectively ghettoed the residents of the outer suburbs.

    Usage

    The verb is transitive and usually takes a human group as its object.
Origin

Borrowed from the name of the Venetian Ghetto, whose etymology and original source language is uncertain. Compare Italian ghetto.

Idioms2 entries

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