Meaning & use
slum lord
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountabledisapprovinginformal
A landlord who rents out run-down, unsafe or dirty homes to poor tenants and does not fix them.
Grammar: Countable: a slum lord, many slum lords.
Patterns
- a slum lord who ignores repairs
- tenants of a slum lord
The tenants accused the slum lord of ignoring broken heaters.
A reporter exposed the slum lord who rented out damp basements.
The city fined the slum lord for fire safety violations.
Word forms
| plural | slum lords |
|---|
Common combinations
- greedy slum lord
- A greedy slum lord kept raising rent but never fixed the roof.
- absentee slum lord
- The absentee slum lord lived in another city.
- sue a slum lord
- The tenants decided to sue the slum lord.
- slum lord properties
- The inspector visited several slum lord properties.
- expose a slum lord
- The news story helped expose a slum lord.
Synonyms and how they differ
- landlord
- Landlord is a neutral word for anyone who rents out property, while slum lord is an accusation of neglect and greed.
- rack-renter
- Rack-renter is an older word for someone who charges extremely high rent, while slum lord stresses poor conditions.
- property owner
- Property owner is neutral and formal and does not suggest any wrongdoing.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: slum lord or landlord?
slum lord vs landlord
A landlord is any owner who rents property, and most are not slum lords. Use slum lord only for one who neglects housing.
Practice
A landlord who keeps rents high but never repairs broken heating or leaks in poor tenants' homes is often called a ___.
Choose one answer.
Slum lord is a critical term for a landlord who neglects poor housing. A property developer builds or renovates property, so it does not imply neglect.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “slum lord”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.