sordid

English

Etymology

Latin sordidus, from sordēre (“be dirty”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔː.dɪd/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɔɹdɪd/
• Homophone: sorted (in some varieties)

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

sordid (comparative sordider, superlative sordidest)

1. Distasteful, ignoble, vile, or contemptible.
2. Dirty or squalid.
3. Morally degrading.
   • 1912, Willa Cather, The Bohemian Girl

     He rode slowly home along the deserted road, watching the stars come out in the clear violet sky.They flashed softly into the limpid heavens, like jewels let fall into clear water. They were a reproach, he felt, to a sordid world.

   • 1994, The Lion King, Be Prepared musical number:

     I know it sounds sordid but you'll be rewarded, when at last I've been given my dues

4. Grasping; stingy; avaricious.
5. Of a dull colour.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:greedy, Thesaurus:unclean

Derived terms

• sordidity
• sordidly
• sordidness

Translations

distasteful, ignoble, vile, or contemptible

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 卑鄙 (zh) (bēibǐ), 下賤 (zh), 下贱 (zh) (xiàjiàn)

• Dutch: verachttelijk

dirty or squalid

• Catalan: sòrdid
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不潔, 不洁 (bùjié), 污穢/汙穢, 污秽 (zh) (wūhuì)

• Dutch: smerig (nl)
• French: saleté (fr)
• German: dreckig (de), schäbig (de), schmutzig (de)

• Hungarian: piszkos (hu), szennyes (hu)
• Irish: salach
• Plautdietsch: schmutzich
• Russian: гря́зный (ru) (grjáznyj)
• Spanish: sórdido (es)
• Welsh: bawaidd

morally degrading

• Albanian: pistë (sq)
• Catalan: sòrdid
• Dutch: smerig (nl)
• French: sordide (fr)
• German: schmutzig (de), schäbig (de)
• Hungarian: hitvány (hu), közönséges (hu)

• Irish: suarach
• Plautdietsch: schmutzich
• Portuguese: sórdido (pt)
• Russian: опустившийся (ru) (opustivšijsja), ни́зкий (ru) (nízkij)
• Spanish: sórdido (es)
• Welsh: iselwael

grasping

• Dutch: gierig (nl)
• French: avide (fr)
• German: geizig (de)

• Hungarian: anyagias (hu), kapzsi (hu), zsugori (hu)
• Russian: коры́стный (ru) (korýstnyj), жа́дный (ru) (žádnyj)
• Spanish: sórdido (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: crapuleux (1, 2, 3)

Anagrams

• 'droids, disord, dorids, droids

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Estonian

Noun

sordid

1. nominative plural of sort