cesspool

noun

cess·​pool ˈses-ˌpül 

1

: an underground reservoir for liquid waste (such as household sewage)

2

: a filthy, evil, or corrupt place or state

a cesspool of corruption

Synonyms

• Augean stable
• Gomorrah
• sink

Examples of cesspool in a Sentence

The region had become a cesspool of pollution.

over the decades the once-respectable neighborhood had become an urban cesspool

Recent Examples on the Web

Advertisement Over the years, residents have seen the ecosystem change into an unrecognizable landscape — once clear ponds stocked with fish are now gray cesspools filled with white foam that is visible even in Google’s satellite images. —Jireh Deng, Los Angeles Times, 26 Sep. 2024

Similarly, Musk has transformed Twitter into a dull, fetid cesspool of White nationalism and paranoid lies. —Michelle Goldberg, The Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2024

Other toilets of the same type — known unflatteringly as large-capacity cesspools — were removed proactively in the Angeles National Forest, officials said. —Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 30 June 2024

Each was a fair question that, instead of serving as an opportunity to inform viewers, got dumped into the cesspool of anti-media hostility. —Philip Bump, Washington Post, 17 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

perhaps by folk etymology from Middle English suspiral vent, tap on a main pipe, settling pool, from Anglo-French suspirale vent, from suspirer to sigh, exhale, from Latin suspirare, literally, to draw a long breath — more at suspire

First Known Use

1783, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

cesspool

noun

cess·​pool ˈses-ˌpül 

: an underground pit or tank for liquid waste (as household sewage)