squalid

English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Latin squalidus, from squalere (“to be rough or dirty”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈskwɒlɪd/
• Rhymes: -ɒlɪd

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Adjective

squalid (comparative squalider, superlative squalidest)

1. Extremely dirty and unpleasant.
   • 1686, The Refin'd Courtier, or a Correction of several indecencies crept into civil conversation., London: Matthew Gilliflower:

     [...] Mythologists describe Pan the son of Mercury (who was the God of Speech) with the upper part like a man, and the lower like a beast, to signifie that Truth is fair and comely, but a Lye squalid and Deformed.

2. Showing a contemptible lack of moral standards.

   A squalid attempt to buy votes.

Derived terms

• squalider
• squalidly

 

Translations

extremely dirty

• Bulgarian: мръсен (bg) (mrǎsen), мизерен (bg) (mizeren)
• Catalan: brut (ca), llord (ca), immund
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 骯髒的／肮脏的 (āngzāng de), 污穢的／污秽的 (wūhuì de)

• Czech: špinavý (cs)
• Finnish: likainen (fi), rähjäinen (fi), surkea (fi)
• French: sordide (fr), (slang) dégueulasse (fr)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πιναρός (pinarós)

• Italian: squallido (it)
• Latin: squālidus
• Macedonian: ва́лкан (válkan)
• Maori: waikorohuhō, poke (mi), hawa
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skitten (no)

• Portuguese: esquálido (pt), imundo (pt)
• Romanian: murdar (ro)
• Russian: гря́зный (ru) (grjáznyj)
• Spanish: inmundo (es), vil (es), mugriento (es), mugroso, cochambroso
• Sundanese: ledrek

showing lack of moral standards

• Bulgarian: подъл (bg) (podǎl), долен (bg) (dolen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 卑鄙的 (bēibǐ de), 醜惡的／丑恶的 (chǒu’è de)

• Czech: odporný (cs), špinavý (cs), nechutný, hnusný (cs)
• Finnish: likainen (fi), alhainen (fi)
• Italian: squallido (it)
• Macedonian: по́дол (pódol), бе́ден (béden)
• Maori: poke (mi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: skitten (no), sjofel

• Russian: ни́зкий (ru) (nízkij), по́длый (ru) (pódlyj)
• Turkish: rezil (tr)

Etymology 2

Noun

squalid (plural squalids)

1. (zoology) Any member of the family Squalidae of dogfish sharks.
   • 2008, David A. Ebert, James A. Sulikowski, Biology of Skates, page 126:

     Numerous diet studies on squalids have shown that members of this family tend to feed mainly on teleosts and cephalopods […]