sordid Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite morally degraded
    seedy; seamy; squalid; sleazy.
    • 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. adjective satellite unethical or dishonest
    dirty.
    • dirty police officers
    • a sordid political campaign
  3. adjective satellite foul and run-down and repulsive
    squalid; flyblown.
    • a flyblown bar on the edge of town
    • a squalid overcrowded apartment in the poorest part of town
    • squalid living conditions
    • sordid shantytowns
  4. adjective satellite meanly avaricious and mercenary
    • sordid avarice
    • sordid material interests

WordNet

Sor"did adjective
Etymology
L. sordidus, fr. sordere to be filthy or dirty; probably akin to E. swart: cf. F. sordide. See Swart, a.
Definitions
  1. Filthy; foul; dirty. Obs.
    A sordid god; down from his hoary chin A length of beard descends, uncombed, unclean. Dryden.
  2. Vile; base; gross; mean; as, vulgar, sordid mortals. "To scorn the sordid world." Milton.
  3. Meanly avaricious; covetous; niggardly.
    He may be old, And yet sordid, who refuses gold. Sir J. Denham.

Webster 1913