Squalid Definition in Context with Images

Squalid definition in context with images, synonyms and parts of speech from Vocabulary for the College-bound Student. Learn the word, squalid, in authentic short passages with illustrations and text-to-speech.

/ˈskwɒl.ɪd/ (adj)

Squalid definition

1. (of places) extremely filthy, dirty and unpleasant, nasty, sordid, unclean, foul, fetid, neglected, miserable
2. (morality) extremely immoral and disgusting, lacking moral standards, repulsive, sleazy, unsavory

Example

It’s easy for Irena to feel sympathy for the homeless people she serves at the soup kitchen she volunteers for. Not too long ago she and her two children were living on the squalid streets themselves through no fault of their own. “My family has never accepted one penny from social security – we have worked wherever we could.” Because of the crisis, an increasing number of families in Europe are in a precarious financial situation.

Irena had to take to the squalid streets after she and her family were forced out of the house in Slovakia they had been living in for decades. They lived on the streets in Germany and Belgium for years as they struggled to survive. “Living on the street is hard and dangerous,” she said. “One of my harshest memories is a long, snowy winter under a bridge in Karlsruhe.”

Source of example: https://www.europarl.europa.eu/

Antonyms

clean

Parts of speech

Noun: squalor

Noun: squalidness

Adverb: squalidly