HOVEL
What does "HOVEL" mean?
A small, squalid, and miserable dwelling.
Meanings
- A cramped, dirty, or run-down house or hut. The family huddled in a single-room hovel at the edge of the village.
- An open shed or shelter for animals or tools. The cart was stored in a hovel behind the barn. archaic
Did you know?
- A 'hovel' once just meant a humble shed or animal shelter before it sank to mean a miserable hut - the same downward drift that put King Lear into one during the storm.
Word origin
From late Middle English 'hovel', of uncertain origin; originally a shed or outbuilding before it came to mean a wretched dwelling.
Remember it
HOVEL sounds like 'shovel' minus the S - the cramped place you'd need a shovel to clean out.
A little poem
One leaning wall, one window stuffed with rag,
the rain keeping its own ledger on the floor-
and still a candle, still a name on the flag.
tercet
What it teaches
Shelter is not the same as comfort; the smallest roof still says someone refused to give up.
Quick facts
What does HOVEL mean?
A small, squalid, and miserable dwelling.
Is HOVEL a valid word?
Yes — HOVEL is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is HOVEL?
HOVEL has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does HOVEL come from?
From late Middle English 'hovel', of uncertain origin; originally a shed or outbuilding before it came to mean a wretched dwelling.
What can HOVEL teach us?
Shelter is not the same as comfort; the smallest roof still says someone refused to give up.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.