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shack

shack

131 1.8
A small rough shelter made from wood and metal scraps
  • noun
  • /ʃæk/
translation icon : choza
  • The miners and their families occupied rude shacks in isolated company towns.
  • a wooden shack
  • a makeshift shack
  • houses and shacks

And you know, the rez I grew up on was tar paper shacks, dirt floors.

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Examples

  • You know, there's people living in shacks in Central Park.

  • At first, the family made do with a two-room shack, but eventually they paid off the mortgage.

    Academic text (1991)
  • When I was growing up, nine of us lived in a shack no bigger than this room.

  • Will we now live our remaining years in a shack made of pieces of metal and wood?

    Fiction book (1992)
  • I've been keeping this one bedroom shack the secret long enough.

  • Ashbihanal lives in a little shack in the woods in Finland.

  • We've retreated to this little beach shack waiting for the rain to stop.

  • And you know, the rez I grew up on was tar paper shacks, dirt floors.

  • The limousine slowly moves up beside a stand-alone shack near the edge of the wharf.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • When I was growing up, nine of us lived in a shack no bigger than this room.

Synonyms

hut
vsshack
217 1.0

A small simple building where people live or stay

is more roughly built and emphasizes use of inexpensive or salvaged materials
shanty
vsshack
22 6.8

A small rough shelter made from old boards and metal

is often roughly built and uses inexpensive or salvaged materials rather than mainly discarded ones
hovel
vsshack
14 7.1

A small simple house that is dirty and not good to live in

is rough in construction but not inherently dirty or unfit to live in
shotgun shack
vsshack
  • US
1 8.3

A narrow house with one floor, rooms in a row and no hallway

is defined by rough construction and cheap materials rather than specific layout
hutch
vsshack
  • UK
6.8

A small, simple shelter where people live, often temporary

is a roughly built shelter not necessarily temporary but generally simple

Antonyms

327 3.4

A very large, impressive house often with many rooms and gardens

241 1.0

A large, beautiful house where a king or queen lives

Compounds

1 8.3

A narrow house with one floor, rooms in a row and no hallway

How Substantial

house
1.0
cabin
351 1.0
shack
131 1.8
hut
217 1.0
lean-to
6 6.7

Surface Forms

shack singular
shacks plural

Etymology

Shack may come from the same idea as the word shaky, which means 'unsteady', so imagine a small building that looks like it could shake apart. That's why a shack today means a rough, cheaply made shelter.