squalid Hear it!

squalid Definition

squalid (skwälid, skwôl-)

adjective

  1. foul or unclean, esp. as the result of neglect or unsanitary conditions
  2. wretched; miserable; sordid

Etymology: L squalidus < squalere, to be foul or filthy

squalid Related Forms

squa·lid·ity (skwä lidə tē, skwô-) noun or squal·id·ness squal·idly adverb

squalid Synonyms

squalid

modif.

squalid Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • surroundings: The Williamsburgh Savings Bank, rises majestically from its squalid surroundings where Atlantic Avenue meets Flatbush Avenue.
  • camp: Yet the squalid refugee camps are filled with people who are all too aware of the bitter reality.
  • condition: The squalid, run-down conditions at Glasgow Zoo did not happen over night.
  • apartment: He died of smoke inhalation from a kitchen fire in his tiny, squalid one-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia.
  • street: The applause of society is but faintly audible in the slums of Whitechapel or in the squalid streets of Southwark.
  • flat: Instead the four women were held in a squalid flat in Lamia by a criminal gang waiting for them to give birth.

Modifying Another Word

  • rather: However, until 1970 a group of rather squalid houses stood here.
  • often: Often squalid and slackly administered with lavish dietaries Kent's mixed workhouses did little to reduce the rates.
  • not: Anyway, picture a small room, roughly decorated in white, not squalid, but certainly not luxurious, .
  • somewhat: However the latest work, in what was the arena of the amphitheater, has also revealed that a somewhat squalid late Saxon settlement.
  • so: No little woman is so trifling and sordid, no handmaid so squalid, but that she gained some advantage from his death.
  • very: You can sleep here but its very squalid and usually wet.

Used with adjective complement

become: Two days later this pleasant site was cursed, as usual, with the " Reverse Midas Touch " and digging became somewhat squalid.

Browse dictionary entries near squalid

  1. squalene
  2. squadron
  3. squad car
  4. squad
  5. squabby
  6. squabble
  7. squab
  8. sqq.
  9. SQL Injection
  10. sq.
  1. squall
  2. squally
  3. squalor
  4. squama
  5. squamate
  6. squamation
  7. squamo-
  8. squamosal
  9. squamous
  10. squamulose