Squalid
/ˈskwɒl.ɪd/noun
Dirty, grimy, or unpleasantly poor and run-down.
Did you know?Squalid entered English through French from Latin squalidus, and its older Latin family also produced words for rough, neglected, and bristling surfaces, giving the word a physical sense of decay before it became social judgment.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*skwel-
“to be rough, dirty, or to dry up”
Latin
Latin
squalere
“to be rough, filthy, or neglected; to be in a wretched state”
Latin
Latin
squalidus
“rough, foul, filthy, squalid”
Old French
Old French
squalide
“dirty, foul, miserable”
Late Middle English
English
squalid
“foul, filthy, and wretchedly neglected”
Modern English
English
squalid
“dirty, grimy, or unpleasantly poor and run-down”
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