: the quality or state of being squalid
Examples of squalor in a Sentence
The family was living in squalor.
I was shocked by the squalor of their surroundings.
Recent Examples on the Web
The film’s sheer, unrelenting squalor can wear you down, too.
—
Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 19 May 2025
Women gather together, all fully covered in the Islamic niqab, as hundreds of young children from strikingly diverse ethnic backgrounds wander through the squalor.
—Richard Engel, NBC News, 12 Feb. 2025
California’s struggle around homelessness has been a black eye and a contentious soft spot for years, and even the most sympathetic of Californians are tired of the squalor and pain.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2025
And what of the fact that Snow White, abandoned in the woods (where the Huntsman is too kindhearted to carry out the Evil Queen’s order to murder her), comes upon a cottage where seven cute, quarrelsome 249-year-old short men with Amish beards live in bachelor squalor and become her protectors?
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for squalor
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Stephanie Bunbury, Deadline, 19 May 2025
Women gather together, all fully covered in the Islamic niqab, as hundreds of young children from strikingly diverse ethnic backgrounds wander through the squalor.
—Richard Engel, NBC News, 12 Feb. 2025
California’s struggle around homelessness has been a black eye and a contentious soft spot for years, and even the most sympathetic of Californians are tired of the squalor and pain.
—Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 13 May 2025
And what of the fact that Snow White, abandoned in the woods (where the Huntsman is too kindhearted to carry out the Evil Queen’s order to murder her), comes upon a cottage where seven cute, quarrelsome 249-year-old short men with Amish beards live in bachelor squalor and become her protectors?
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for squalor
Cite this Entry
“Squalor.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/squalor. Accessed 5 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
squalor
noun
squa·lor
ˈskwäl-ər 
: filthy or degraded conditions resulting from neglect or lack of money
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