1
[ adjective ] morally degraded

Examples

"a seedy district" "the seamy side of life" "sleazy characters hanging around casinos" "sleazy storefronts with...dirt on the walls"- Seattle Weekly "the squalid atmosphere of intrigue and betrayal"

Used in print

(Randall Stewart, "A Little History, a Little Honesty: A...)

It ignores the sordid financial aspects ( quite conveniently , too , for his audience , who could indulge in moral indignation without visible , or even conscious , discomfort , their money from the transaction having been put_away long_ago in a good antiseptic brokerage ) .

(Kenneth Reiner, "Coping with Runaway Technology"...)

No amount of ballyhoo will cover_up the sordid facts .

Related terms

disreputable

2
[ adjective ] foul and run-down and repulsive

Synonyms

squalid flyblown

Examples

"a flyblown bar on the edge of town" "a squalid overcrowded apartment in the poorest part of town" "squalid living conditions" "sordid shantytowns"

Related terms

dirty

3
[ adjective ] unethical or dishonest

Synonyms

dirty

Examples

"dirty police officers" "a sordid political campaign"

Related terms

corrupt

4
[ adjective ] meanly avaricious and mercenary

Examples

"sordid avarice" "sordid material interests"

Related terms

acquisitive

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