Make Your Point: SQUALID

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pronounce SQUALID:

SKWALL id

Hear it.

connect this word to others:

Hear how nasty the word squalid sounds? It gives me shudders.

It often describes places that are run-down, disgusting, and shamefully unmaintained.

See if you can recall these synonyms of squalid:

1. So___d things are dirty or disgusting, often in a way that suggests greed and selfishness. This word is a little different from squalid because we use it figuratively more often: "We found out about their so___d past;" "Give me all the so___d details."

2. Sl____ly things or people look sloppy, dirty, untidy, or unclean, in a way that suggests they lack manners or morals. This word is a little different from squalid because we're more likely to apply it to people ("her sl____ly hair," "his sl____ly posture"); we're more likely to apply squalid to places.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

"Squalid" comes from a Latin word meaning "rough, dirty, or filthy."

Squalid things and places are unclean in a nasty way, because no one is taking proper care of them.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Adjective: "a squalid apartment," "a squalid living room."

Other forms:

The noun that we most often use is "squalor," pronounced "SKWALL ur." (It rhymes with "taller.") It's the uncountable kind of noun: "They were living in squalor;" "We smelled the squalor before we saw it."

There are also a few very rare alternate nouns: "squalidness" and "squalidity." They sound so awkward, and so stiff and odd, that they'd probably be pretty funny in dialogue. Say you're writing a semi-educated character who says things like "This place gives me an uncomfortableness." You could have him say things like "Thanks for the pancakes... and the, um... squalidity."

how to use it:

"Squalid" is a serious, semi-common word. Call a place squalid when it's nasty because no one is cleaning it or maintaining it. When you do, you sound detached and critical, or just formal and descriptive.

You might talk about squalid rooms, halls, and buildings; squalid homes, streets, neighborhoods; or even squalid lifestyles.

To use the noun, you might talk about people living in squalor, or suffering in squalor. Or you might point out the squalor of some place.

examples:

"When Spanish and Dutch police arrested him they found the flat occupied by a tangle of cables and computer gear. A copy of Quicksilver lay on the unmade bed... If this was one of the most successful spammers in history, why was he living in a squalid flat and a camper van?"
— Giles Tremlett, The Guardian, 20 May 2013

"And look at me now, sitting on a curb at a gas station, puffing into the endless slow rain, so sweat-soaked already that it doesn't matter. Things don't get any more squalid than this, is my thought. But they can—they can!—and they do. At the next house, I am getting my toilet brush out of its Ziploc bag when the liquid that's been accumulating in the bag all day spills on my foot."
— Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America, 2001

has this page helped you understand "squalid"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this word, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "squalid" without saying "in dire need of a deep clean" or "profoundly dirty."

try it out:

In Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass, the narrator sets the scene:

"Jordan College was the grandest and richest of all the colleges in Oxford... It had never been planned; it had grown piecemeal, with past and present overlapping at every spot, and the final effect was one of jumbled and squalid grandeur. Some part was always about to fall down..."

(Source)

Try explaining what the narrator means by saying that the college has "squalid grandeur." (Yup, that's an oxymoron.)

And if you're in an analytical mood, try inferring what kind of people run this college.

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for June is "Happy Stories in Hidden Cities."

I'll give you a sentence from a happy news story, along with a long word that contains all the letters, in order, of the name of the city in which the story takes place. And you give me the city.

Here's an example:

"A puppy was excited to experience his first-ever snowfall on Friday, November 11, after a winter storm swept through the area." FARRAGO.

The answer here is "Fargo," the city where this story takes place. You can spot the name FARGO inside FARRAGO.

Try this one today:

"The [Local] Alliance for Minorities, including Arab and Jewish members as well as other religious, ethnic and political groups, united in solidarity for a Ramadan meal at a synagogue." CALIBRATION.

To see the answer, scroll all the way down!

review this word:

1. The opposite of SQUALID is

A. MUTED.
B. TOWERING.
C. WELL-KEPT.

2. Places described as "squalid" are also likely to be described as _____

A. "trim," "tidy," and "shipshape."
B. "ritzy," "swanky," and "well-appointed."
C. "neglected," "overcrowded," and "disease-ridden."

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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