Standard Lemma guide

sweatshop

noun · 2 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈswɛtˌʃɒp/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈswɛtˌʃɑp/
  • CMU ARPABET: S W EH1 T SH AA2 P Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A factory or other place of work where pay is low and conditions are poor or even illegal.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

factory where workers do piecework for poor pay and are prevented from forming unions; common in the clothing industry

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: factory, mill, manufacturing plant, manufactory

History

Etymology

From sweat (“to extract money, labour, etc.”, verb) + shop.

Across languages

Translations

22 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 血汗工廠 /血汗工厂 (xuèhàn gōngchǎng, xuěhàn gōngchǎng, xiěhàn gōngchǎng) — cheap factory
  • Finnish: hikipaja — cheap factory
  • French: atelier de misère — cheap factory
  • French: atelier d'exploitation — cheap factory
  • French: atelier de pressurage — cheap factory
  • German: Sweatshop — cheap factory
  • German: Ausbeutungsbetrieb — cheap factory
  • Japanese: ブラック企業 (burakku-kigyō) — cheap factory
  • Japanese: ブラック会社 (burakku-gaisha) — cheap factory
  • Norwegian Bokmål: utbyttingsbedrift — cheap factory
  • Polish: fabryka smrodu — cheap factory
  • Portuguese: fábrica clandestina — cheap factory
  • Portuguese: ateliê da miséria — cheap factory
  • Portuguese: fábrica escravizante — cheap factory
  • Russian: потого́нка (potogónka) — cheap factory
  • Russian: потогонное произво́дство (potogonnoje proizvódstvo) — cheap factory
  • Russian: галера (galera) — cheap factory
  • Serbo-Croatian: izrabljivaonica — cheap factory
  • Spanish: taller clandestino — cheap factory
  • Swedish: låglönefabrik — cheap factory
  • Swedish: sweatshop — cheap factory
  • Thai: โรงงานนรก (roong-ngaan-ná-rók) — cheap factory