adj · noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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/ˈʃænti/
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -ænti
CMU ARPABET:SH AE1 N T IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Living in shanties; poor, ill-mannered and violent.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, derogatory, not-comparable
Examples
That neighborhood is full of shanty Irishmen.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Jaunty; showy.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A roughly-built hut or cabin.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1965 January, Stuart James, Angling′s New Gadgets, Popular Mechanics, page 224, The ice fishing shanty is not a necessity, but it does add to the comfort. A shanty can be any size or shape, four pieces of plywood banged together with a plywood roof, or as elaborate as one I was told about by a Minneapolis fisherman that has four rooms with gas heat and wall-to-wall carpeting.
1999 January, Lawrence Pyne, In Vermont: Rental Shanties Give Hassle-Free Ice-Fishing, Field & Stream, page 78, The solution is to use ice-fishing shacks, called shanties on Champlain. Every winter, veritable shanty towns spring up as safe ice develops, and their snug occupants harvest fresh meals of perch, pike, walleye, salmon, trout, and smelt without first being flash-frozen themselves.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: shack, hovel
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
A rudimentary or improvised dwelling, especially one not legally owned.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
noun
Meaning 5
An unlicensed pub.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: Australia, New-Zealand
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: speakeasy
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A rhythmic work song, traditionally sung by sailors or stevedores, functioning to set the pace for hauling, turning a capstan, loading, or other such activities.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: sea shanty
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: work song
7
verb
Meaning 7
To inhabit a shanty.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
noun
Meaning 8
small crude shelter used as a dwelling
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: hovel, hut, hutch, shack
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: shelter
Narrower terms: igloo, iglu, mudhif
9
noun
Meaning 9
a rhythmical work song originally sung by sailors
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: chantey, chanty, sea chantey
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: work song
History
Etymology
From Canadian French chantier (“lumberjack's headquarters”). An alternative theory that the word derives from Irish seantí (meaning "old house") is not considered likely by lexicologists. * (unlicensed pub): New Zealand from 1848.
From French chantez, imperative of chanter (“to sing”).
Across languages
Translations
47 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
колиба
(koliba)
— An old run-down house or shack
Bulgarian:
барака
(baraka)
— An old run-down house or shack
Chinese Mandarin:
棚子
(péngzi)
— An old run-down house or shack
Czech:
bouda
— An old run-down house or shack
Czech:
chatrč
— An old run-down house or shack
Czech:
chýše
— An old run-down house or shack
Dutch:
krot
— An old run-down house or shack
Dutch:
barak
— An old run-down house or shack
French:
cabane
— An old run-down house or shack
Greek:
καλύβα
(kalýva)
— An old run-down house or shack
Greek:
παράγκα
(parágka)
— An old run-down house or shack
Hungarian:
vityilló
— An old run-down house or shack
Icelandic:
kofi
— An old run-down house or shack
Icelandic:
hreysi
— An old run-down house or shack
Ido:
kabaneto
— An old run-down house or shack
Italian:
catapecchia
— An old run-down house or shack
Italian:
capanna
— An old run-down house or shack
Italian:
baracca
— An old run-down house or shack
Italian:
tugurio
— An old run-down house or shack
Māori:
kuha kāinga
— An old run-down house or shack
Plautdietsch:
Schedd
— An old run-down house or shack
Polish:
rudera
— An old run-down house or shack
Polish:
barak
— An old run-down house or shack
Polish:
buda
— An old run-down house or shack
Polish:
chałupa
— An old run-down house or shack
Russian:
хиба́ра
(xibára)
— An old run-down house or shack
Serbo-Croatian:
udžerica
— An old run-down house or shack
Spanish:
chabola
— An old run-down house or shack
Swedish:
ruckel
— An old run-down house or shack
Tagalog:
palirong
— An old run-down house or shack
Ottoman Turkish:
قولبه
(kulübe)
— An old run-down house or shack
Ottoman Turkish:
عریش
(ʼariş)
— An old run-down house or shack
Ottoman Turkish:
باراقه
(baraka)
— An old run-down house or shack
Bulgarian:
моряшка песен
(morjaška pesen)
— a sailor's work song
Chinese Mandarin:
船夫號子 /船夫号子
(chuánfūhàozi)
— a sailor's work song
Czech:
námořnický popěvek
— a sailor's work song
Dutch:
shanty
— a sailor's work song
German:
Shanty
— a sailor's work song
Greek:
ναυτικό τραγούδι
(naftikó tragoúdi)
— a sailor's work song
