squalid

Examples

• All

• Everything was dirty and squalid, with a pervasive stench of fish and rotting vegetables and puddles of stagnant water.

  Fiction book (1998)

• The glow of smoldering cooking fires through open doorways offers minimal illumination to the squalid lives within.

  Fiction book (1992)

• His last address was his own body, and what a squalid place it was.

  Fiction book (2002)

• Out the window, a squalid city street, seen from the third floor.

  Fiction book (2001)

• In urban areas, where the majority of the population lived in squalid conditions, trade unions and other popular movements grew dramatically.

  Academic text (1996)

• Inside the front entrance was a squalid, narrow foyer.

  Fiction book (1990)

• Hector looks around him at the squalid mass of distressed humanity.

  Fiction book (1993)

• The place was squalid, with a leaky roof and sooty walls, but glory, glowing embers in the hearth!

  Fiction book (1993)

• The children played in the squalid alley, surrounded by trash and filth.

• Many families struggle to survive in squalid conditions without access to clean water.

Synonyms

F

filthy

vssqualid

183 1.5

Very dirty and covered with mud or dirt

is often tied to poverty or neglect rather than pure dirtiness

V

vile

vssqualid

157 5.0

Very bad and morally wrong

is specific to dirty neglected places rather than general moral or emotional disgust

S

sordid

vssqualid

46 7.5

Dirty and morally wrong, often involving dishonest or cruel acts

is about physical filth and neglect in places rather than moral wrongdoing

S

seedy

vssqualid

• Informal

26 6.1

Looking dirty and run down and often linked to crime

is about physical filth from poverty or neglect, not moral wrongdoing

U

unhygienic

vssqualid

3 4.8

Not clean and likely to make people sick

is centered on severe dirt and neglect rather than specifically health risk

S

scummy

vssqualid

2 5.6

Covered with a thin dirty film on the surface

is about widespread dirt from poverty or neglect, not only a slimy surface

S

slummy

vssqualid

7.4

An area with poor, dirty housing that people do not take care of

is used for any very dirty place, not only poor housing

F

flyblown

vssqualid

• Archaic

9.5

Being dirty and not cared for

is about extreme dirt and unpleasantness often from poverty or neglect

S

sewery

vssqualid

9.6

Smelling very bad and looking dirty

is used for general extreme dirt caused by neglect, not only sewer smell

Antonyms

C

clean

∞ 1.0

Free from dirt or harmful things

How Dirty

filthy

183 1.5

squalid

9 7.1

dirty

525 1.0

unclean

7 1.3

Surface Forms

Etymology