favela
Spanish, noun/faˈbela/
favela is spelled F-A-V-E-L-A (6 letters) and appears about once in every 1 million words in written Spanish, the 37,997th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Favela is a Spanish feminine noun meaning “favela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Ciertas zonas de las ciudades costeras del Brasil, cuyos moradores vive en la pobreza y cuyas edificaciónes…”.
What does favela mean in English?
noun
- 1
femininefavela (a slum or shantytown, especially in Brazil)
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
noun: 1. Ciertas zonas de las ciudades costeras del Brasil, cuyos moradores vive en la pobreza y cuyas edificaciónes usualmente fueron construidas en terrenos invadidos ilegalmente.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of favela
- favelas plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce favela?
- /faˈbela/
- [faˈβ̞e.la]
- [faˈβ̞ela]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to favela
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is favela in Spanish?
favela appears about once in every 1 million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).