favela
/fəˈvɛlə/
favela noun: a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil.
Noun
favela (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 8
- 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 city2012, Tim Edensor, Mark Jayne, Urban Theory Beyond the West: A World of Cities
Proper noun capitalized: Favela
Favela (plural Favelas)
- A surname.
favela meaning in Tamil, Arabic and Persian
favela in Tamil
- A slum in Brazil
- பவேலா pavēlā
favela in Arabic
- A slum in Brazil
- فَافِيلَا fāfēlā, fāvēlā
favela in Persian
- A slum in Brazil
- فاولا fâvelâ
Forms of favela
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | favelas |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Favelas |
Origin of favela
Unadapted borrowing from Brazilian Portuguese favela.
Words that rhyme with favela
- stella
- columella
- Ella
- cinderella
- umbrella
- stracciatella
- a cappella
- fella
- ambarella
- citronella
- Coachella
- columnella
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- hella
- lamella
- micella
- mozzarella
- nigella
- predella
- salmonella
- Tudela
- varicella
- zooxanthella
- acanthella
- Adela
- amborella
- Bella
- brucella
- candela
- canella
- capitella
- castella
- cella
- cerebella
- chlorella
- clitella
- fellah
- flabella
- flagella
- fraxinella
- Gabriella
- haustella
- klebsiella
- labella
- mistella
- moraxella
- mortadella
- novella
- paella
- panatela
- petronella
- portabella
- prunella
- quinella
- rostella
- rubella
- scutella
- selaginella
- shigella
- subumbrella
- tarantella
Questions about favela
- What does favela mean?
- Favela means a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil.
- What is favela in Tamil?
- Favela in Tamil is பவேலா (pavēlā). See Favela meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is favela?
- Favela can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce favela?
- Favela is pronounced /fəˈvɛlə/.
- What is the plural of favela?
- The plural of favela is favelas.
Words near favela in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: favela (page history and authors); Favela (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-ca-favela.oga.
Cite this entry: “favela.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/favela. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.