cesspool

[ ses-pool ]

noun

1. a cistern, well, or pit for retaining the sediment of a drain or for receiving the sewage from a house.
2. any filthy receptacle or place.
3. any place of moral filth or immorality:

   a cesspool of iniquity.

cesspool

/ ˈsɛsˌpuːl; ˈsɛsˌpɪt /

noun

1. Also calledsinksump a covered cistern, etc, for collecting and storing sewage or waste water
2. a filthy or corrupt place

   a cesspool of iniquity

Word History and Origins

Origin of cesspool¹

1575–85; cess (< Italian cesso privy < Latin rēcessus recess, place of retirement) + pool ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of cesspool¹

C17: changed (through influence of pool ¹) from earlier cesperalle, from Old French souspirail vent, air, from soupirer to sigh; see suspire

Example Sentences

Over the years, residents have seen the ecosystem change into an unrecognizable landscape — once clear ponds stocked with fish are now gray cesspools filled with white foam that is visible even in Google’s satellite images.

From Los Angeles Times

It is the year 79, and “Rome, once the beacon of civilization, is now a cesspool of corruption and decay.”

From Los Angeles Times

Morantz called the rattlesnake attack “Synanon’s Pearl Harbor,” the event that summoned the force of the law and exposed what he called “a cesspool ruled by violence and one man’s madness.”

From Los Angeles Times

Twitter has become a cesspool for the promotion of misinformation and disinformation; Elon Musk is not an honest actor.

From Salon

A typical M. Emmet Walsh character, USA Today film critic Mike Clark once wrote, was “a cesspool in a flowered shirt.”

From Seattle Times