makeshift housing
Temporary thrown-together dwelling
Makeshift housing is shelter assembled quickly from available materials, not intended as permanent residence.
The term covers everything from refugee camps to homeless encampments to emergency structures after disasters: Makeshift housing sprang up along the railroad tracks.
The phrase emphasizes improvisation and inadequacy—people living in makeshift housing typically lack better options.
- shantyRamshackle dwelling
- tentPortable fabric shelter
- tent cityInformal settlement of temporary shelters
- shelterProtected place or structure
- tarp shelterRigged waterproof camping cover
tarp · cardboard · cardboard box · squatter · homeless · camp · slum · lean-to · shack · refugee · plywood · scrap wood · temporary · roof over head · improvised · ramshackle · hovel · tin
- slumsslum, slums, shanty, shanties, shack
- coloniasdirt roads, unpaved roads, septic tanks, water tanks, mobile homes
makeshift housingplanned development
Predesigned residential or commercial area
makeshift housingluxury home
Upscale, expensive residence
mansion · estate · penthouse · villa · stately home
make, shift, makes, making, makers, shifts, shifted, shifting, shifty