Nearby Words

sordid

[sawr-did] Origin

sor·did

[sawr-did]
adjective
1.
morally ignoble or base; vile: sordid methods.
2.
meanly selfish, self-seeking, or mercenary.
3.
dirty or filthy.
4.
squalid; wretchedly poor and run-down: sordid housing.

Origin:
1590–1600; < Latin sordidus, equivalent to sord(ēs) dirt + -idus -id4

sor·did·ly, adverb
sor·did·ness, noun
un·sor·did, adjective
un·sor·did·ly, adverb
un·sor·did·ness, noun

sordid, sorted.


1. degraded, depraved. See mean2. 2. avaricious, tight, close, stingy. 3. soiled, unclean, foul.


1. honorable. 2. generous. 3. clean.

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Sordid is a GRE word you need to know.
So is culpable. Does it mean:
deserving blame or censure; blameworthy
make amends for
Collins
World English Dictionary
sordid (ˈsɔːdɪd)
 
adj
1.  dirty, foul, or squalid
2.  degraded; vile; base: a sordid affair
3.  selfish and grasping: sordid avarice
 
[C16: from Latin sordidus, from sordēre to be dirty]
 
'sordidly
 
adv
 
'sordidness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

sordid
1584, "festering," from L. sordidus "dirty," from sordere "be dirty, be shabby," related to sordes "dirt," from PIE base *swordo- "black, dirty" (cf. Goth. swarts, O.E. sweart "black"). Sense of "foul, low, mean" first recorded 1611.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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