Cesspool

//ˈsɛsˌpuːl// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An underground pit where sewage is held.
  2. 2
    a covered cistern; waste water and sewage flow into it wordnet
  3. 3
    A filthy place. broadly

    "Under such circumstances, I naturally gravitated to London, that great cesspool into which all the loungers and idlers of the Empire are irresistibly drained."

Synonyms

All synonyms
cesspitcesspitseptic tankbogcloacacloaca maxima

Example

More examples

"He fell into the cesspool and got covered from head to toe."

Etymology

From earlier sesspool. Origin uncertain. Perhaps from Italian cesso (“privy, toilet”) + English pool. Alternatively, an alteration of English dialectal suspool, from suss, soss (“puddle; mire”) + pool. Another possible derivation is from a folk etymology (influence from pool) from earlier cesperalle, alteration of Middle English suspiral, from Middle French souspirail (“air hole”), from soupirer, souspirer (“to sigh, breathe”), from Latin suspirare.

More for "cesspool"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.