ghetto

ghetto — noun

1. a part of a town where a minority group lives separately from others, usually be

1.nounB2
Definition

a part of a town where a minority group lives separately from others, usually because they are poor or face discrimination

Example

Meera grew up in a ghetto where nearly every family shared the same ethnic background.

preposition: in a ghetto

Government housing policies in the 1960s pushed many minority communities into overcrowded urban ghettos.

passive: pushed into ghettos

Common collocations
  • urban ghetto
  • inner-city ghetto
  • ethnic ghetto
  • racial ghetto
  • live in a ghetto
  • escape the ghetto
  • ghetto poverty
Synonyms
  • slum

    emphasizes poverty and poor housing conditions rather than ethnic segregation

  • quarter

    a neutral term for any district of a city, without the negative associations of 'ghetto'

  • enclave

    suggests a degree of choice and cultural identity, not necessarily poverty

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

ghetto + of + people

in a/the ghetto

Usage Note

This sense often appears in discussions about urban poverty, racial segregation, and social inequality. Some speakers consider the term sensitive because it carries strong associations with poverty and discrimination.

Common Mistakes

The city has many ghettos where rich people live.
The city has many wealthy neighborhoods where rich people live.
A ghetto is specifically a poor and segregated area, not just any neighborhood where one group lives.
My neighborhood is a ghetto' (meaning it is untidy or run-down).
My neighborhood is very run-down.
Using 'ghetto' as a casual insult for a messy or cheap place is considered offensive by many people.

2. a walled-off urban district where Jewish communities were compelled to reside, p

2.nounB2
Definition

a walled-off urban district where Jewish communities were compelled to reside, particularly in Nazi-occupied Europe during the Second World War

Example

Under Nazi rule, Jewish families were forced into a cramped ghetto with high stone walls.

collocation: forced into a ghetto

The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Europe, holding over 400,000 people.

capitalization with proper name: Warsaw Ghetto

Common collocations
  • Warsaw Ghetto
  • Jewish ghetto
  • Nazi ghettos
  • the ghetto walls
  • life in the ghetto
  • ghetto uprising
  • ghetto residents
Synonyms
  • Jewish quarter

    a less emotionally charged historical term for an area where Jews lived, without necessarily implying forced confinement

  • enforced settlement

    describes the compulsory nature of the segregation more neutrally

Grammar Patterns

the + (name) + Ghetto

forced into a/the ghetto

Usage Note

When referring to a specific historical ghetto, the name is typically capitalized (e.g., Warsaw Ghetto, Łódź Ghetto). Distinguish from sense 1: sense 2 refers specifically to state-enforced Jewish segregation in European history, whereas sense 1 describes modern segregated poor areas of any ethnic group.

Common Mistakes

The Jewish ghetto in Venice was set up in the 1500s.' (sentence is fine, but the learner should know this is sense 2 not sense 1).
OK usage
just be aware that sense 2 also applies to pre-20th-century Jewish quarters in European cities like Venice, not only WWII ghettos.

3. a circumstance in which a certain set of people is kept apart from the larger so

3.nounC1
Definition

a circumstance in which a certain set of people is kept apart from the larger society or organization, often due to their background or social role

Example

Without good schools, young people in the rural county felt trapped in an educational ghetto.

metaphorical use: educational ghetto

All-male managers created a professional ghetto for women by keeping them in assistant roles.

Common collocations
  • academic ghetto
  • economic ghetto
  • cultural ghetto
  • professional ghetto
  • social ghetto
Synonyms
  • enclave

    less negative; can imply voluntary separation

  • bubble

    focuses on lack of contact with different perspectives or experiences

  • silo

    common in business contexts; describes groups that do not share information with each other

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

a + (adjective) + ghetto

ghetto + of + noun phrase

Usage Note

This is a metaphorical extension of the original meaning. It is typically used to criticize situations where people are unfairly separated from opportunities or resources available to the mainstream group. The modifier before 'ghetto' (academic, economic, professional, etc.) signals which domain the separation happens in.

ghetto — adjective

ghetto — verb

Word family

  • ghettoize
    verbC1
  • ghettoise
    verbC1
  • ghettoization
    nounC1
  • ghettoisation
    nounC1
  • ghettoized
    adjectiveC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe a district within a city, but they differ in their associations. A ghetto (B2) specifically implies that residents share a common ethnic or religious background and often face poverty and discrimination — it carries the strongest negative emotional weight of the group. A slum (B1) focuses on poor housing conditions and overcrowding, without necessarily implying ethnic segregation; any very run-down area can be called a slum regardless of who lives there. A quarter (B1) is a neutral geographical term for any functional or cultural district of a city, such as the Latin Quarter or the financial quarter — it has no inherent negative meaning. An enclave (C1) suggests a group living together for cultural identity or mutual support, sometimes voluntarily, and does not automatically imply poverty. For example: 'The old town was a thriving Jewish quarter for centuries before it became an impoverished ghetto under Nazi rule.' Or: 'What began as a small immigrant enclave gradually grew into a crowded urban slum.'

ghetto ↗slum ↗quarter ↗enclave

Common collocations

Nouns

  • ghetto life
  • ghetto community
  • ghetto walls
  • ghetto residents
  • ghetto conditions
  • ghetto poverty
  • ghetto culture

Adverbs

  • systematically ghettoized
  • increasingly ghettoized
  • deliberately ghettoized
  • effectively ghettoized

Phrases

  • born and raised in the ghetto
  • escape the ghetto
  • trapped in a ghetto
  • live in a ghetto
  • ghetto mentality

Prepositions

  • in a ghetto
  • into a ghetto
  • out of the ghetto
  • outside the ghetto
  • beyond the ghetto

Etymology

ItalianEnglish

The word 'ghetto' comes from the Italian word 'ghetto' (also spelled 'ghèto'), which originally meant 'foundry' or 'slag' — waste left over from metal casting. The name was first used for the Jewish quarter of Venice in 1516, because that area of the city stood on the site of an old iron foundry. Over time, 'ghetto' came to mean any part of a city where a particular group was forced to live. The modern, broader meaning — a poor segregated urban area — developed in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially in the United States.