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sordid (adj.)

early 15c., "festering," from Latin sordidus "dirty, filthy, foul, vile, mean, base," from sordere "be dirty, be shabby," related to sordes "dirt, filth," from PIE *swrd-e-, from root *swordo- "black, dirty" (source also of Old English sweart "black"). Sense of "foul, low, mean" first recorded 1610s. Related: Sordidly; sordidness.

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Definitions of sordid from WordNet

sordid (adj.)
foul and run-down and repulsive;
sordid shantytowns
Synonyms: flyblown / squalid
sordid (adj.)
morally degraded; "sleazy storefronts with...dirt on the walls"- Seattle Weekly; "the sordid details of his orgies stank under his very nostrils"- James Joyce;
Synonyms: seamy / seedy / sleazy / squalid
sordid (adj.)
unethical or dishonest;
a sordid political campaign
Synonyms: dirty / shoddy
sordid (adj.)
meanly avaricious and mercenary;
sordid avarice
sordid material interests
From wordnet.princeton.edu