sweatshop

American  

[swet-shop] / ˈswɛtˌʃɒp /

noun

1. a shop, small factory, or other workplace employing workers at low wages, for long hours, and under poor conditions.

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sweatshop British  

/ ˈswɛtˌʃɒp /

noun

1. a workshop where employees work long hours under bad conditions for low wages

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sweatshop Cultural  

1. A small factory or shop in which employees are poorly paid and work under adverse conditions. Sweatshops were especially common in the garment industry during the early twentieth century.

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Etymology

Origin of sweatshop

First recorded in 1865–70; sweat + shop

Example Sentences

Both leaders famously clawed their way to the top from unlikely beginnings -- Lee worked in a sweatshop to support his family, while Lula dropped out of school to sell peanuts and shine shoes.

From Barron's • Feb. 23, 2026

They lived for a while in Harlem while his mother worked in a sweatshop and got by with the help of food stamps.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 15, 2024

In Hong Kong, Mr Lai worked in a garment sweatshop and taught himself English.

From BBC • Jan. 2, 2024

“He grew up the great-grandson of a sweatshop worker whose son turned a construction-supply company into an empire. Throughout his own career as a business and civic leader, Jim continued to drive that legacy forward.”

From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2023

After my mother was arrested in the sweatshop immigration raid, a prison doctor had given her a shot of a drug to keep her calm overnight; That shot, my mother believed, caused Caroline’s condition.

From "Krik? Krak!" by Edwidge Danticat

Related Words

• branch
• cooperative
• firm
• industry
• laboratory
• mill
• shop
• workshop