squalid
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L340703 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ˈskwɒlɪd/
adj
Etymology: Etymology tree Latin squālus Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Indo-European *-s Proto-Indo-European *-ōs Proto-Italic *-ōs Latin -or Latin squālor Latin squāleō Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Italic *-iðos Latin -idus Latin squāliduslbor. English squalid Learned borrowing from Latin squālidus, from squālēre (“to be rough or dirty”).
- Extremely dirty and unpleasant.
“[...] Mythologists describe Pan the son of Mercury (who was the God of Speech) with the upper part like a man, and the lower like a beast, to signifie that Truth is fair and comely, but a Lye squalid and Deformed.”
- Showing or characterized by a contemptible lack of moral standards.
“a squalid attempt to buy votes”
“Minister, I hardly think that we can exploit our Sovereign by involving her in some might call a squalid vote-grubbing exercise.”
noun
Etymology: From taxonomic name Squalidae.
- Any member of the family Squalidae of dogfish sharks.
“Numerous diet studies on squalids have shown that members of this family tend to feed mainly on teleosts and cephalopods[…]”