sordid (adj.)

early 15c., sordide, of a bodily sore, "festering" (Chauliac), from Latin sordidus "dirty, filthy, foul, vile, mean, base," from sordere "be dirty, be shabby," related to sordes "dirt, filth," which might be from a PIE root *swordo- "black, dirty" (source also of Old English sweart "black;" compare swart).

In reference to actions or habits, the sense of "low, mean, ignoble" is recorded by 1610s. Related: Sordidly; sordidity; sordidness.

also from early 15c.

Entries linking to sordid

swart (adj.)

Old English sweart "black, being of a dark hue," in reference to night, clouds, also figurative, "wicked, infamous," from Proto-Germanic *swarta- (source also of Old Frisian, Old Saxon, and Middle Dutch swart, Dutch zwart, Old Norse svartr, German schwarz, Gothic swarts "dark-colored, black"), from PIE root *swordo- "dirty, dark, black" (source of sordid).

The native Germanic word, surviving in the Continental languages but displaced in English by black. Also in Old English in reference to skin color of persons. Related: Swartness; swartest.

Trends of sordid

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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shoddy

1862, "having a delusive appearance of high quality," a Northern word from the American Civil War in reference to the quality of government supplies for the armies, from earlier noun meaning "rag-wool, kind of cloth made of woolen waste and old rags" (1832), "presumably orig. a f

seamy

c. 1600, "least pleasant, worst," literally "having a seam or seams," but here especially "showing the seams," in the figurative phrase seamy side, from seam (n.) + -y (2). The seamy side of a sewn garment is less attractive and is typically turned in. The popularity of the figur

seedy

mid-15c., sēdi, "fruitful, abundant" (Of bounteuousnesse þat hous was ful sedy), from seed (n.) + -y (2). From 1570s as "abounding in seeds." The modern meaning "shabby, no longer fresh or new" is attested by 1725, slang, originally especially "poor, out of money;" probably in re

illiberal

1530s, "ungentlemanly, base, mean," from French illiberal (14c.), from Latin illiberalis "ungenerous, mean, sordid; unworthy...

broker

(mid-13c. in surnames), "commercial agent, factor," also "an agent in sordid business," from Anglo-French brocour "small...

venal

Typically with a bad sense of "ready to sell one's services or influence for money and from sordid motives; to be bought...

avarice

desire for knowledge, glory, power, etc., but it "has become limited, except in figurative uses, so as to express only a sordid...

forget

Old English forgietan "lose the power of recalling to the mind; fail to remember; neglect inadvertently," from for-, used here probably with privative force, "away, amiss, opposite" + gietan "to grasp" (see get (v.)). To "un-get," hence "to lose" from the mind. A common Germanic

cause

c. 1200, "reason or motive for a decision, grounds for action; motive," from Old French cause "cause, reason; lawsuit, case in law" (12c.), and directly from Latin causa "a cause; a reason; interest; judicial process, lawsuit," which is of unknown origin. From mid-14c. as "cause

toilet

1530s, earliest in English in an obsolete sense "cover or bag for clothes," from French toilette "a cloth; a bag for clothes," diminutive of toile "cloth, net" (see toil (n.2)). Toilet acquired an association with upper class dressing by 18c., through the specific sense "a fine c

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updated on March 21, 2023

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Dictionary entries near sordid

sorcerer

sorceress

sorcerous

sorcery

sord

sordid

sore

sore-head

sorely

sorghum

Soroptimist