Hooverville
[ hoo-ver-vil ]
/ ˈhu vərˌvɪl /
a collection of huts and shacks, as at the edge of a city, housing the unemployed during the 1930s.
Origin of Hooverville
H. Hoover + -ville, suffix in place names (< French: city < Latin; see villa)
Examples from the Web for hoovervilles
They call their tent city Romneyville, a play on the Hoovervilles, shantytowns of the Great Depression.
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Word Origin and History for hoovervilles
1933, American English, from U.S. president Herbert C. Hoover (1874-1964), who was in office when the Depression began, + common place-name ending -ville. Earlier his name was the basis of Hooverize "economize on food" (1917) from his role as wartime head of the U.S. Food Administration.
Culture definitions for hoovervilles
Hoovervilles
The encampments of the poor and homeless that sprang up during the Great Depression. They were named with ironic intent after President Herbert Hoover, who was in office when the depression started.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.