mean, ignoble, abject, sordid mean being below the normal standards of human decency and dignity. mean suggests small-mindedness, ill temper, or cupidity.
mean and petty satire ignoble suggests a loss or lack of some essential high quality of mind or spirit.
an ignoble scramble after material possessions abject may imply degradation, debasement, or servility.
abject poverty sordid is stronger than all of these in stressing physical or spiritual degradation and abjectness.
a sordid story of murder and revenge
Examples of sordid in a Sentence
And Vermes's story is also in part an international thriller, especially with the high-level goings-on around the Scrolls. The full sordid tale of spite, scholarly selfishness, and undisguised anti-Semitism, which kept access to the Dead Sea texts restricted for decades to a tiny cartel, unwinds in his pages.— Paula Fredriksen, New Republic, 15 Oct. 2001Another reporter working to verify the book's charges ended up unmasking author James Hatfield's sordid past, revealing how little the publisher knew about its author …— Jennifer Greenstein, Brill's Content, February 2000In fact, audiences now have become so blasé about accounts of celebrities' sordid personal lives that some stars are turning potential publicity nightmares into confessional coups.— Stephen Rebello, Vibe, May 1999
He shared the sordid details of his past.
he managed to rise above the sordid streets upon which he grew up
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sordid.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.