Squalid

Definition: Squalid

Squalid

Adjective

1. Morally degraded; "a seedy district"; "the seamy side of life"; "sleazy characters hanging around casinos"; "sleazy storefronts with...dirt on the walls"- Seattle Weekly; "the sordid details of his orgies stank under his very nostrils"- James Joyce; "the squalid atmosphere of intrigue and betrayal".

2. Foul and run-down and repulsive; "a flyblown bar on the edge of town"; "a squalid overcrowded apartment in the poorest part of town"; "squalid living conditions"; "sordid shantytowns".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "squalid" was first used: 1591. (references)

Etymology: Squalid \Squal"id\, adjective. [Latin expression squalidus, from squalere to be foul or filthy.]. (references)

Synonyms: Squalid

Ugliness

Squalid, haggard; grim, grim faced, grim visaged; grisly, ghastly; ghost like, death like; cadaverous, grewsome, gruesome.

Uncleanness

Unscoured, unswept, unwiped, unwashed, unstrained, unpurified; squalid; lutose, slammocky, slummocky, sozzly.

Crosswords: Squalid

Well, it's a bit squalid, isn't it (The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; writing credit: Douglas Adams; John Lloyd)

How squalid everything will be. (Dolce vita, La; writing credit: Federico Fellini; Ennio Flaiano)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Typical squalid homes, Hamilton County, Ohio. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

His sensitive nature was still smarting under the lashes of an undivined and squalid way of life

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Civil Liberties

Kazakhstan

The Government struggled to find resources for integration programs for these immigrants, some of whom lived in squalid settings. (references)

Greece

A large group of persons waiting to board boats to Italy gathered at the port of Patras throughout the year and remained there in squalid conditions at year's end. (references)

Greece

The detainees were held in squalid conditions: A report by Human Rights Watch in December 2000 cited severe overcrowding and a lack of sufficient exercise, sleeping accommodations, adequate food, or medical care. (references)

Political Economy

Greece

Police sweeps resulted in the detention under often squalid conditions of undocumented immigrants. (references)

Worker Rights

Kuwait

Workers are housed 10 or more to a room in squalid conditions, many without access to adequate running water. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expression using "squalid": squalid dwelling. Additional references.

Ending with "squalid": born-squalid.

Albanian

i varfër (bad, beggarly, destitute, fortuneless, impecunious, indigent, lame, lazarus, low-lived, meager, meagre, mean, miserable, one horse, penurious, poor, spare, wretched), i pistë (bawdy, dingy, dirty, filthy, foul, frowsty, frowsy, frowzy, grubby, miry, sordid, waste), i neveritshëm (abhorrent, abominable, accursed, accurst, beastly, contemptible, damnable, damned, despicable, detestable, disgustful, disgusting, execrable, fulsome, ghoulish, heinous, hideous, loathful, loathsome, nauseating, noisome, obnoxious, odious, putrid, rank, repellent, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rotten, sickening, sickly, slimy, sordid, unclean, unsavory, unsavoury), i ndyrë (abject, atrocious, bloody, contaminated, cotton-picking, crappy, dirty, filthy, foul, hoggish, horrid, lousy, low, low down, mangy, muddy, nasty, piggish, puddly, salacious, shut in, sordid, stained, stinking, vile, villainous), i fëlliqur (contaminated, dirt, dirty, disgraceful, filthy, grimy, lewd, lousy, mean, mourning, muddy, sludgy). (various references)

Arabic 

‏قذر (augean, beastly, contaminated, crummy, defiled, dingy, dirt, dirty, disreputable, dungy, filthy, foul, ghoulish, grimy, grubby, impure, lousy, mean, mucky, muddy, nasty, obscene, pig, piggish, polluted, rubbishy, sinful, slattern, slatternly, slob, sloppy, slovenly, smutty, soil, sordid, unclean, uncleanly, untidy, verminous, vile), ‏حقير (abject, base, beggarly, blackguardly, cheap, despicable, dingy, dirty, frowzy, grubby, ignoble, inferior, insignificant, lousy, low, low down, lowly, mean, menial, niggling, paltry, pettifogger, petty, pip squeak, pitiable, pitiful, poor, popinjay, rotten, scabby, scaly, scoundrelly, scruffy, scummy, scurvy, servile, shabby, shoddy, slavish, slim, slushy, small minded, snide, sod, swine, tacky, trifling, ungracious, unworthy, varmint, vile, villainous, worthless, wretched), ‏جدير بالإزدراء (contemptible, despicable, opprobrious), ‏بائس (afflicted, cheerless, deplorable, desolate, devil, disconsolate, distressed, forlorn, godforsaken, hapless, heel, helpless, lamentable, measly, miserable, paltry, pathetic, penurious, piteous, pitiful, poor, poverty stricken, ratty, sad, scruffy, seedy, sickly, sordid, unfortunate, unhappy, woeful, wretched). (various references)

Bulgarian 

окаян (abject, beggarly, deplorable, despicable, forlorn, miserable, reprobate, wretched), мръсен (bawdy, currish, dingy, dirt, dirty, filthy, foul, frowzy, greasy, grimy, hoggish, impure, messy, mucky, muddy, nasty, obscene, piggish, raunchy, ruddy, salacious, sleazy, sordid, unclean, unwashed, vile), мизерен (abject, flea-bitten, mangy, miserable, poverty stricken, ratty, sordid, wretched), занемарен (neglected, ragged, run down, seedy, shabby, sleazy, uncultivated, unkempt, untended), жалък (abject, lamentable, mangy, miserable, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, pokey, poor, sad, scabbed, scabby, scaly, scrubby, sorrowful, sorry, woeful), противен (abhorrent, abominable, adverse, bastard, contrary, cross, disagreeable, foul, fulsome, ghastly, gross, horrid, loud, mucky, nameless, nasty, noisome, objectionable, obnoxious, odious, offensive, opposing, pestilential, rebarbative, repugnant, repulsive, scarlet, sickening, sickly, sorry, sour, swinish, ugly, unattractive, unfavorable, unfavourable, ungracious, ungrateful, unpalatable, unpleasant, unsavory, unsavoury, vexatious, vile, villainous), презрян (despicable, paltry, ratty, worthless). (various references)

Czech

sprostý (crude, dirty, dunghill, foul, foul-mouthed, gross, indecent, larrikin, mean, nasty, obscene, plebeian, poor, rowdy, scurrilous, vulgar), sešlý (decrepit), zanedbaný (derelict, frowsy, frowzy, neglected, neglectful, uncared for, uncultivated, unkempt), nízký (base, flat, ignoble, impure, low, short, sordid, tawdry, villainous), hanebný (deplorable, discreditable, disgraceful, dishonorable, dishonourable, heinous, horrendous, ignoble, ignominious, nasty, nefarious, scurvy, shameful, sordid, unspeakable, vile, villainous), bídný (abject, bad, eagre, low down, mean, miserable, pitiful, scurvy, sordid, wretched), špinavý (black, dirty, filthy, foul, grimy, grotty, grubby, impure, messy, murky, nasty, seamy, slovenly, smutty, sordid, unclean). (various references)

Farsi 

زننده (Acrid, Acrimonious, Beater, Garish, Gaunt, Glassy, Harsh, Hideous, Knocker, Loathsome, Lurid, Nasty, Nippy, Pitapat, Poignant, Pungent, Repellent, Repugnant, Repulsive, Sharp, Striker, Tart, Vile), بدظاهر. (various references)

French

sordide, misérable. (various references)

German

schmutzig (dingily, dingy, dirty, disgusting, filthily, filthy, foul, foully, frowzy, grimy, lewd, messy, mucky, muddy, nastily, smuttily, smutty, soiled, sordid, sordidly, splotchy, turbid, unclean, unwholesome), armselig (mean, miserable, necessitous, paltrily, paltry, pathetic, penurious, penuriously, piteous, pitiful, poor, scrubby, squalidly, wretched). (various references)

Greek 

ρυπαρόσ (grimy, grubby, nasty, slobbery, smutty, sordid), βρώμικος (dirty, filthy, grimy), βρωμερόσ (fetid, filthy, foul, nasty, scummy, stench), άθλιοσ (abject, beastly, beggarly, caitiff, forlorn, miserable, putrid, scullion, unblessed, Unblest, villainous, wretched), άθλιος (abject, lousy, miserable). (various references)

Hebrew 

מוז� ח ו�"וח�", מטו� ף (dungy, filthy, grubby, mucky, nasty, slimy, slob, sloppy, soiled, sordid). (various references)

Hungarian

ocsmány (dastardly, dirty, dirty mind, dismal, dreary, foul, frumpy, groaty, grotty, hideous, horrible, nasty), mocskos (begrimed, drossy, filthy, foulmouthed, grimy, messy, ribald, scurrilous, scuzzy, sleazo, sleazy, snuffy, sordid, spotty, stinky), nyomorúságos (abject, deplorable, dingy, miserable, pelting, piteous, pitiable, pokey, poky, poverty-stricken, tin-pot). (various references)

Italian

squallido (bleak, dingy, dismal, dreary, seamy, shabby, sleazy, wretched), sordido (sordid, stingy), misero (abject, dismal, forlorn, meager, mean, miserable, narrow, poor, poverty stricken, scanty, spare, unfortunate, wretched). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

汚らしい (dirty-looking). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

きたならしい (dirty-looking). (various references)

Manx

sallagh (dingy, filthy, foul, grubby, impure, nasty, piggish). (various references)

Pig Latin

alidsquay.(various references)

Portuguese

sujo (boarish, cloudy, crummy, dingy, dirty, ebon, feculent, filthy, foul, frowzy, greasy, grimy, grouty, grubby, lousy, messy, miry, mucky, nasty, obscene, piggish, scurrilous, sloven, slovenly, smudgy, smutty, soiled, splotchy, stained, swinish, unclean, untidy, unwashed), sórdido (foul, mean, mucky, nasty, piggish, sordid, swinish), miserável (abject, costive, dismal, evil, godforsaken, logy, meager, misbegotten, miscreant, miserable, miserly, paltry, picayune, pimping, poky, poor, rascally, scaly, scoundrel, scurvy, skinflint, sordid, wretch, wretched), imundo (filthy, foul, mucky, piggish, swinish, unclean), esquálido (dingy). (various references)

Romanian

sordid (blowsy, grovelling, sordid, sordidly), urât (abominable, bad, badly, boredom, dirty, ennui, filthy, foul, haggish, hateful, hideous, ill-featured, little, low, megrim, naughty, opprobrious, sour, tedium, ugly, unbecoming, unfairly, unsightly, vicious, villainous, wicked), murdar (base, basely, bawdy, dingy, dirty, dungy, filthy, foul, foully, frowzy, greasy, grimy, grubby, impure, mangy, messy, nasty, piggish, piggy, poky, scurrilous, seedy, shabby, slimy, slovenly, smeary, smutty, soppy, sordid, sordidly, Tarry, thick, unclean, untidy), mizer (beggarly, miserable, sorry), jalnic (beggarly, deplorable, distressing, doleful, forlorn, heart rending, lamentable, lamentably, lamenting, mangy, mean, miserable, miserably, mournful, pathetic, pathetically, piteous, pitiable, plaintive, rueful, ruefully, sad, sorrowful, sorry, woeful, wretched). (various references)

Russian 

убогий (impoverished, lean, miserable). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

prljav (dingy, dirty, drossy, feculent, filthy, foul, grimy, impure, muck, mucky, scurvy, sordid, unclean), bedan (abject, beggarly, crummy, distressful, lamentable, mangy, miserable, needy, pelting, pitiable, poor, rubbishy, wretched). (various references)

Spanish

vil (abject, contemptible, cur, despicable, foul, lousy, low, low down, lower, mean, mean-spirited, miserable, nefarious, rotten, scurvily, scurvy, sordid, vile), miserable (abject, beggarly, dismal, meager, measly, miserable, moldy, mouldy, paltry, poor, sordid, twopenny, wretched), mísero (beggarly, caitiff, wretched), escuálido, asqueroso (augean, beastly, crappy, disgusting, distasteful, foul, gross, loathsome, lousy, mucky, nasty, noisome, putrid, rancid, revolting, sordid, ugly, unpleasant). (various references)

Swedish

smutsig (crummy, dingy, dirty, filthy, foul, grimy, grubby, mucky, nasty, soiled, sordid, unclean). (various references)

Thai

เลวทราม (foul, shoddy, sordid), สกปรก (cacky, dirty, foul, grubby, grungy, mucky, sleazy, sordid). (various references)

Turkish

sefil (abject, beggarly, dead end, destitute, down and out, down at heels, hangdog, miserable, poor, poverty stricken, rep, ropy, shabby, sordid, starveling, wretch, wretched), pis (augean, black, dingy, dirty, dungy, effing, filthy, foul, frowzy, goatish, grimy, grubby, impure, mangy, messy, miasmal, miasmatic, miry, mucky, nasty, obnoxious, obscene, offensive, scruffy, scummy, slimy, sordid, unclean, uncleanly), miskin (lazy, shiftless, slacker, sleepy, slothful, slowcoach, sluggard, sluggish), kirli (bedraggled, dingy, dirty, draggled, filthy, grimy, grubby, impure, smudgy, soiled, spotted, unclean, venose, venous), bakımsız (bedraggled, neglected, ragged, rank, uncared for). (various references)

Ukrainian

неохайний (chatty, dowdy, frowzy, frumpish, grubby, negligent, scruffy, slapdash, slattern, slatternly, slobbery, sloven, slovenly, soppy, unclean, uncleanly, unkempt, untidy), злиденний (deplorable, mendicant, piteous, starveling). (various references)

Vietnamese 

dơ dáy (dingy, mussy), bẩn thỉu nghèo khổ. (various references)

ater, atriorum, squalidae, squalidus. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "squalid": squalider, squalidest, squalidly, squalidness, squalidnesses. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Squalid" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Aquilids, Sgulaird, spualid, sqqualid, squai, squaid, squaild, squaill, squails, squait, squale, squaled, squalin, squallid, squawled. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: dulias, quails.

-2 letters: dials, duals, dulia, lauds, qaids, quads, quail, quais, quasi, quids, squad, squid.

-3 letters: aids, ails, auld, dais, dals, dial, dual, lads, laid, laud, lids, qaid, quad, quai, quid, sadi, said, sail, saul, sial, sild, slid.

-4 letters: ads, aid, ail, ais, als, dal, dis, dui, ids, lad, las, lid, lis, qua, sad.

+2 letters: equalised, odalisque, squalider, squalidly.

+3 letters: disqualify, liquidates, odalisques, quadrilles, quesadilla, squalidest.

+4 letters: diddlysquat, liquidators, quesadillas, squalidness.

+5 letters: disqualified, disqualifies, liquidambars, liquidations, maquiladoras, quadrennials, quadrillions.