squalid
Americanadjective
-
foul and repulsive, as from lack of care or cleanliness; neglected and filthy.
- Synonyms:
- unclean
-
wretched; miserable; degraded; sordid.
adjective
-
dirty and repulsive, esp as a result of neglect or poverty
-
sordid
Synonym Usage
See dirty.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of squalid
1585–95; < Latin squālidus dirty, equivalent to squāl ( ēre ) to be dirty, encrusted + -idus -id 4
Explanation
Squalid things appear neglected, or morally repulsive in nature, like a frat house after a semester of hard partying and zero cleanup. Squalid comes from the Latin word squalere, meaning to “be covered with a rough, scaly layer.” A few word evolutions later and we have squalid, a word that describes something distasteful, dirty, unattractive, and as unkempt in appearance as the dry, scaly skin of an armadillo, or a room filled with pizza boxes, flickering light bulbs, and stained wallpaper. Squalid behavior is dirty, too, like cheating on a test and lying about it.
Vocabulary lists containing squalid
Refugee
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The Kite Runner
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A springer spaniel who was one of 84 dogs living in "squalid conditions" in a family home has been given a second chance at life.
From BBC ● Oct. 1, 2026
They have been staying in squalid conditions for months and have made several unsuccessful attempts to cross.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
His main base of operations was a series of squalid apartments in New York.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Judengasse, Mr. McAuley tells us, was but “a squalid little lane that was only about twelve feet wide and constituted the entirety of the ghetto.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
Reports reached us that these Polish Jews were languishing on the border in a squalid no-man's-land of temporary camps.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
