SORDID Synonyms: 192 Similar and Opposite Words

Q: How does the adjective 'sordid' differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of sordid are abject , ignoble , and mean . While all these words mean "being below the normal standards of human decency and dignity," sordid is stronger than all of these in stressing physical or spiritual degradation and abjectness. // a sordid story of murder and revenge

Q: Where would 'abject' be a reasonable alternative to 'sordid'?

While in some cases nearly identical to sordid , abject may imply degradation, debasement, or servility. // abject poverty

Q: When might 'ignoble' be a better fit than 'sordid'?

The synonyms ignoble and sordid are sometimes interchangeable, but ignoble suggests a loss or lack of some essential high quality of mind or spirit. // an ignoble scramble after material possessions

Q: When can 'mean' be used instead of 'sordid'?

The words mean and sordid can be used in similar contexts, but mean suggests small-mindedness, ill temper, or cupidity. // mean and petty satire

sordid

adjective

ˈsȯr-dəd

Definition of sordid

as in filthy

not clean he managed to rise above the sordid streets upon which he grew up

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in vile

not following or in accordance with standards of honor and decency a sordid affair involving bribery and corruption in high places

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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How does the adjective sordid differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of sordid are abject, ignoble, and mean. While all these words mean "being below the normal standards of human decency and dignity," sordid is stronger than all of these in stressing physical or spiritual degradation and abjectness.

a sordid story of murder and revenge

Where would abject be a reasonable alternative to sordid?

While in some cases nearly identical to sordid, abject may imply degradation, debasement, or servility.

abject poverty

When might ignoble be a better fit than sordid?

The synonyms ignoble and sordid are sometimes interchangeable, but ignoble suggests a loss or lack of some essential high quality of mind or spirit.

an ignoble scramble after material possessions

When can mean be used instead of sordid?

The words mean and sordid can be used in similar contexts, but mean suggests small-mindedness, ill temper, or cupidity.

mean and petty satire

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of sordid Google is aware of the sordid history of running phone apps on desktop PCs. — ArsTechnica, 21 Sep. 2026 Hopefully, her death will serve as a reminder to the industry’s powers that be that young girls and women need to be heard, need to feel safe, and need to be shielded from its more sordid characters. — Marlow Stern, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026 Jodie is jealous of my friendship with these siblings and is trying to sabotage it by doing background checks on them to reveal any sordid thing that has happened to them or their kids. — R. Eric Thomas, Mercury News, 11 Aug. 2026 For the sixth consecutive season, one of the WNBA’s legacy franchises has come apart at the seams, tattering the franchise’s three-championship history with a sordid record that mandates a clear response. — Los Angeles Times, 29 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for sordid

Recent Examples of Synonyms for sordid

Adjective

Everybody wants to bring back trip-hop, but no one remembers how filthy Dummy actually sounds.

— Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 27 Oct. 2026
When the drop comes in, there’s this really filthy synth bass.

— Brian Hiatt, Rolling Stone, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of filthy

Adjective

Prosecutors reveal Ha used anonymous social media accounts to send dozens of vile antisemitic threats, leaking the victim’s home address and forcing their family to flee.

— Staff, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
New additions include singer Tank, who plays vile music exec Eric Cropper and Jax’s main client, Beauty in Black star Taylor Polidore Williams as Eric’s wife Brooke, La La Anthony as Eric’s first wife Melina, and then Megan Good as Regina Harris.

— Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of vile

Adjective

The state was apportioned a bare 300,000 acre-feet a year in 1928, when Las Vegas was merely a dusty outpost miles from the Hoover Dam construction site.

— Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
On July 2, 2025, a burst with energy equivalent to 1,000 suns blazing for 10 billion years lit up Fermi’s detectors, heading from a dusty galaxy about eight billion light-years from Earth.

— Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of dusty

Adjective

In the world of sports broadcasting, ESPN and Buck did Aikman dirty.

— Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 27 Oct. 2026
Now Gizelle has to decide whether that person is her longtime friend in real life or the woman who has spent the past several seasons doing much of her dirty work.

— Shamira Ibrahim, Vulture, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of dirty

Adjective

Living room furniture does not stand a chance against a shedding dog, a muddy paw or a cat with strong opinions about upholstery.

— Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Oct. 2026
On muddy gravel between the smokestacks and the water, a forklift held what looked like an enormous sack of sand.

— Alec Luhn, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of muddy

Adjective

With American Family Field rocking, Ashby reared back and threw a nasty curve that Díaz tried to hold up on.

— Jacob Lev, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
Of course, there has been some criticism of this plan, as France is experiencing some pretty nasty civil unrest at the moment, but the game will go ahead, with the Saints having been in the country for a few days already.

— Matt Reigle OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of nasty

Adjective

Convince people that an innocent person represents an existential threat, furnish them with a frightening conspiracy theory about an immoral enemy, and some may become willing to kill.

— Maxwell Adler, Vanity Fair, 27 Oct. 2026
In those cases, your cause is so just that you are warranted to be immoral in protecting it.

— Jordi Graupera, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of immoral

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sorcery

sordid

sordidness

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“Sordid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sordid. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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