squalid
Other forms: squalidest
Squalid things appear neglected, or morally repulsive in nature, like a frat house after a semester of hard partying and zero cleanup.
Squalid comes from the Latin word squalere, meaning to “be covered with a rough, scaly layer.” A few word evolutions later and we have squalid, a word that describes something distasteful, dirty, unattractive, and as unkempt in appearance as the dry, scaly skin of an armadillo, or a room filled with pizza boxes, flickering light bulbs, and stained wallpaper. Squalid behavior is dirty, too, like cheating on a test and lying about it.
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foul and run-down and repulsive
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morally degraded“the squalid atmosphere of intrigue and betrayal”disreputablelacking respectability in character or behavior or appearance
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Vocabulary lists containing squalid
Three young refugees — a Jewish boy fleeing Nazi Germany in 1939, a Cuban girl suffering under the Castro regime in 1994, and a Muslim boy trying to escape war-torn Syria in 2015 — make desperate journeys in search of freedom and safety.
Set in Afghanistan during a time of political and social upheaval, this novel traces the decades-long friendship of two boys from different social classes.