Dictionary

ghetto blaster en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From ghetto + blaster. First use appears c. 1980, see quotations.

Meanings

1. (slang) A portable stereo system capable of playing music (from several sources) at a relatively high volume; a boombox.
   • We got tired of him carrying his ghetto blaster down our street every day.
   • Amid the noise of air horns, wolf whistles, and ghetto blasters shouting out old calypso tunes. 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 158:
   • “Mr. Johnson, in future I’d like you to leave your ghetto blaster at home, please.” She cast a withering look at the giant radio. 1980 May, Leonore Fleischer, Fame: A Novel, page 63:
2. (broadly) A car stereo used in a similar way (loudly and, often, rudely); the hooptie in which it is mounted.
   • We got tired of him driving his ghetto blaster down our street every day.

Forms