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shanty

1 American  
[shan-tee] / ˈʃæn ti /

noun

plural

shanties

  1. a crudely built hut, cabin, or house.

adjective

  1. of, relating to, or constituting a shanty or shanties.

    a shanty quarter outside the town walls.

  2. of a low economic or social class, especially when living in a shanty.

    shanty people.

verb (used without object)

shantied, shantying

  1. to inhabit a shanty.

shanty 2 American  
[shan-tee] / ˈʃæn ti /
Also chanty, sometimes shantey

noun

plural

shanties

  1. a sailors' song, especially one sung in rhythm to work.

shanty 1 British  
/ ˈʃæntɪ /

noun

  1. a ramshackle hut; crude dwelling

  2. a public house, esp an unlicensed one

    1. a log bunkhouse at a lumber camp

    2. the camp itself

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
shanty 2 British  
/ ˈʃæntɪ, ˈʃæntɪ, ˈtʃæn- /

noun

  1. a song originally sung by sailors, esp a rhythmic one forming an accompaniment to work

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • shantylike adjective

Etymology

Origin of shanty1

1810–20; probably < Canadian French chantier lumber camp, hut; French: yard, depot, gantry, stand for barrels < Latin cant ( h ) ērius rafter, prop, literally, horse in poor condition, nag < Greek kanthḗlios pack ass

Origin of shanty2

First recorded 1855–60; alteration of French chanter “to sing”; chant

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

OSHKOSH, Wis.—Peter and Lisa Smith sit inside a fishing shanty on the frozen waters of Lake Winnebago and stare for hours into the murky depths.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026

Despite the archaic language, it has the simplicity of a sea shanty.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 16, 2026

The blaze broke out in the early hours of the morning in Guryong village, often described as one of the South Korean capital's last remaining shanty towns.

From Barron's • Jan. 16, 2026

"My family has been torn apart," Ms Khatun says, as she sits in her parent's one-room shanty in West Bengal.

From BBC • Dec. 18, 2025

Burnham looked forward to evenings on the grounds when his lieutenants and visiting architects would gather for dinner at the shanty and converse into the night in front of Burnham’s immense fireplace.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.