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definitions

sordid

[sawr-did]
||

adjective

morally ignoble or base; vile: sordid methods.
meanly selfish, self-seeking, or mercenary.
dirty or filthy.
squalid; wretchedly poor and run-down: sordid housing.

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Nearby words

  1. sorcerously,
  2. sorcery,
  3. sord,
  4. sordello,
  5. sordes,
  6. sordidly,
  7. sordino,
  8. sore,
  9. sore point, a,
  10. sore shin

Origin of sordid

1590–1600; < Latin sordidus, equivalent to sord(ēs) dirt + -idus -id4
SYNONYMS FOR sordid
1. degraded, depraved. See mean2. 2. avaricious, tight, close, stingy. 3. soiled, unclean, foul.
ANTONYMS FOR sordid
1. honorable. 2. generous. 3. clean.
Related forms
Can be confusedsordid sorted
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sordidly

British Dictionary definitions for sordidly

sordid

adjective

dirty, foul, or squalid
degraded; vile; basea sordid affair
selfish and graspingsordid avarice
Derived Formssordidly, adverbsordidness, noun

Word Origin for sordid

C16: from Latin sordidus, from sordēre to be dirty
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for sordidly

sordid

adj.

early 15c., "festering," from Latin sordidus "dirty, filthy, foul, vile, mean, base," from sordere "be dirty, be shabby," related to sordes "dirt, filth," from PIE *swrd-e-, from root *swordo- "black, dirty" (cf. Old English sweart "black"). Sense of "foul, low, mean" first recorded 1610s. Related: Sordidly; sordidness.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper