squalor
/ˈskwɒlə
/noun [mass noun]
The state of being extremely dirty and unpleasant, especially as a result of poverty or neglect: they lived in squalor and disease...
- London's population had continued to grow and many lived in squalor and poverty.
- It is a country beset by poverty, squalor, inequality and violence.
- The musicals of the '30s are enjoyable, in part because they don't dwell on misfortune and squalor and poverty.
Synonyms
dirt, dirtiness, squalidness, filth, filthiness, grubbiness, grime, griminess, muck, muckiness, slumminess, foulness, vileness, poverty, wretchedness, dinginess, meanness, nastiness, seediness, shabbiness, sordidness, sleaziness, insalubrity, slovenliness, repulsiveness;
neglect, decay, dilapidation
informal scruffiness, scuzziness, crumminess, grunge, grunginess, rattiness, tackiness
British informal grottiness
Origin
Early 17th century: from Latin, from squalere 'be dirty'.