dosshouse
Derelict overnight shelter
A dosshouse is a cheap lodging house offering basic overnight accommodation, typically for homeless people, transients, or those with very little money.
The term is primarily British and somewhat dated, though still understood.
Dosshouses provided minimal amenities—often just a bed or even a chair to sleep in—and were associated with poverty and vagrancy.
He spent his last few coins on a bed at the dosshouse.
The American equivalent is flophouse.
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- homelessnessLacking permanent residence
- hardshipSuffering from difficult circumstances
privation · impoverishment · down-and-out · vagrant · pauper · beggar · unemployed · dispossessed
Place of safety
- lodgingTemporary place to stay
- hostelShared traveler lodging
- bunkhouseCommunal sleeping building
- dormitoryStudent living building
cot · bed · bunk · mattress · pallet · boarding · roof · overnight
Ruined through neglect
- dingyDiscolored from grime
- squalorDirty, degraded living conditions
- derelictAbandoned or neglectful
- neglectFailure to provide care
decay · disrepair · grimy · vermin · bedbugs · filthy · rundown · shabby
Temporary, soon departing
- temporaryLimited in duration
- itinerantMoving for work
- drifterAimless, rootless traveler
- vagabondHomeless, aimless wanderer
nomadic · rootless · wanderer · migrant · floater · short-term · nightly · wayward
Multi-unit urban dwelling
- slumImpoverished urban district
- inner-cityCentral part of metropolis
- backstreetMinor road, secondary
- alleywayNarrow urban passage
fleapit · Whitechapel · blighted · downtown
destitution
Extreme poverty, lacking necessities
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- homelessnessLacking permanent residence
hardship · privation · impoverishment · down-and-out · vagrant · pauper · beggar · unemployed · dispossessed · derelict
refuge
Place of safety
dormitory · cot · bed · bunk · mattress · pallet · boarding · roof · overnight · flop
dilapidated
Ruined through neglect
neglect · decay · disrepair · grimy · vermin · bedbugs · filthy · rundown · shabby · cramped
transient
Temporary, soon departing
vagabond · nomadic · rootless · wanderer · migrant · floater · short-term · nightly · wayward · stopover
tenement
Multi-unit urban dwelling
- slumImpoverished urban district
- inner-cityCentral part of metropolis
- backstreetMinor road, secondary
alleyway · fleapit · Whitechapel · blighted · downtown
dosshouseluxury hotel
Premium overnight accommodation
five-star hotel · palace · penthouse · mansion · Ritz
dosshousepermanent residence
Fixed long-term dwelling
family home · homestead · ancestral home · estate · freehold
house, flophouse, flophouses, dossier, dosser, dossers, dossed