squalid

[skwol-id, skwaw-lid]

adjective

1. foul and repulsive, as from lack of care or cleanliness; neglected and filthy.

   Synonyms: unclean

2. wretched; miserable; degraded; sordid.

squalid

/ ˈskwɒlɪd, skwɒˈlɪdɪtɪ /

adjective

1. dirty and repulsive, esp as a result of neglect or poverty

2. sordid

Other Word Forms

• squalidly adverb
• squalidness noun
• squalidity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of squalid¹

1585–95; < Latin squālidus dirty, equivalent to squāl ( ēre ) to be dirty, encrusted + -idus -id ⁴

Word History and Origins

Origin of squalid¹

C16: from Latin squālidus, from squālēre to be stiff with dirt

Synonym Study

See dirty.

Example Sentences

Lawyers say instead it has become a “black site,” holding immigrants for days or weeks in squalid and unsanitary conditions without access to legal counsel.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

An August 2024 report by the prison's independent monitoring board found inmate numbers in the "cramped, squalid" prison, had grown to 1,513.

Read more on BBC

Before it was removed, residents say the squalid encampment had developed into a community.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A 2017 study in Maharashtra found them squeezed into squalid shared rooms, with little sanitation, often facing discrimination at work and in clinics.

Read more on BBC

A class-action lawsuit seeks to end Riverside County’s use of a cash bail system to detain people awaiting trial, alleging high death rates and squalid conditions in the county jails.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dingy 
• fetid 
• filthy 
• grimy 
• muddy 
• musty 
• ramshackle 
• seedy 
• shabby 
• sordid 
• wretched