From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsordidsor‧did /ˈsɔːdɪd $ ˈsɔːr-/ adjective 1 BAD BEHAVIOUR OR ACTIONSinvolving immoral or dishonest behavioursordid business/affair/story etc The whole sordid affair came out in the press. She discovered the truth about his sordid past. I want to hear all the sordid details!2 DIRTYvery dirty and unpleasant SYN squalid a sordid little room
Examples from the Corpus
sordid• They asked him all the questions he had dreaded, and tried to make the relationship sound ugly and sordid.• But by now the diplomatic enterprise was also beginning to be associated with more sordid activities.• All concerned should be cross-examined to get to the bottom of the whole sordid affair.• The details of their affair were sordid and ugly.• a sordid crime• Why linger here in the sordid dark for nothing?• Their sordid dormitory was attacked by hooligans.• Out of this sordid mix of political short-sightedness and commercial greed, no government emerges with clean hands.• It awed me by how beautiful it could still appear in that sordid place.• Here belief in such portents is presented as being highly suspect, and possibly an excuse for more sordid political ends.• the sordid slums of modern citiessordid business/affair/story etc• All concerned should be cross-examined to get to the bottom of the whole sordid affair.• George Broomham was questioned, but only briefly, before he admitted the whole sordid affair.• It is a mildly sordid story.• To drag me into her sordid affairs.• Her own sordid story could only be a bad influence on such a young and impressionable mind.Origin sordid (1500-1600) Latin sordidus, from sordes “dirt” 