Meanings
favela1
plural favelas
- A slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil.
The favela is now the model for most of the world's cities, as vast numbers of people continue to migrate to them in order to survive.
2008, Cedar Lewisohn, Street Art, Foreword, page 81 more example
security forces in November of 2010 stormed one of the city's most notorious favelas, the complex of the Morro do Alemão in the northern zone of the city
2012, Tim Edensor, Mark Jayne, Urban Theory Beyond the West: A World of Cities
Favela2
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Brazilian Portuguesefavela
- Englishfavela
Unadapted borrowing from Brazilian Portuguese favela.
More words from Brazilian Portuguese
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic فَافِيلَا
- فَافِيلَا (fāfēlā, fāvēlā)A slum in Brazil
Bulgarian фаве́ла
- фаве́ла (favéla)A slum in Brazil
Chinese Mandarin 法韋拉 /法韦拉
- 法韋拉 /法韦拉 (fǎwéilā)A slum in Brazil
French favela
- favelaA slum in Brazil
German Favela
- FavelaA slum in Brazil
Greek φαβέλα
- φαβέλα (favéla)A slum in Brazil
Hebrew פָֿאבֶ֫לָה
- פָֿאבֶ֫לָה (favela)A slum in Brazil
Italian favela
- favelaA slum in Brazil
Japanese ファヴェーラ
- ファヴェーラ (favēra)A slum in Brazil
Korean 파벨라
- 파벨라 (pabella)A slum in Brazil
Norwegian Bokmål favela
- favelaA slum in Brazil
Persian فاولا
- فاولا (fâvelâ)A slum in Brazil
Polish fawela
- fawelaA slum in Brazil
Portuguese favela
- favelaA slum in Brazil
Romanian favelă
- favelăA slum in Brazil
Russian фаве́ла
- фаве́ла (favéla)A slum in Brazil
Spanish favela
- favelaA slum in Brazil
Tamil பவேலா
- பவேலா (pavēlā)A slum in Brazil
Turkish favela
- favelaA slum in Brazil
Ukrainian фаве́ла
- фаве́ла (favéla)A slum in Brazil
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with favela
Anagrams
Cite this entry
favela. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/favela
“favela.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/favela. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “favela,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/favela.
Source: favela on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.