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SAT TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- Their pursuit of it was often sordid, and the sums they were willing to risk irrational.
他们不择手段地追逐它，不惜铤而走险，一掷千金。
——《经济学人》 - Apparently she’s unacquainted with Donald Jr., Ivanka, Eric and Jared, and she somehow missed that sordid chapter of Trump’s presidency in which he tried to extort the president of Ukraine and was rightly impeached for it.
显然她不熟悉小唐纳德、伊万卡和贾里德，她也不知何故漏掉了特朗普总统任内那段肮脏的篇章，他在其间试图勒索乌克兰总统，并因此遭到正当的弹劾。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[adjective] dirty or squalid
[形容词] 肮脏的或邋遢的
深入解读
Sordid 一词源自拉丁语 sordere （弄脏、使破旧），15世纪初进入英语后原指“化脓的、流脓的”，等到了17世纪初后才开始发展出今义表示“肮脏的、污秽的、邋遢的”，多指某个地方或环境非常肮脏到令人不快或沮丧的地步，比如：
将这个概念用在人身上时， sordid 则可以表示“卑鄙的、丑恶的、无耻的”，常用来形容人的某种不光彩的行为或动机，并在道德上引起厌恶和蔑视，比如：
- 那个著名科学家有一段不清白的过去。这是他人生中非常不光彩的一段经历。
That eminent scientist had a somewhat murky past. It was a rather sordid episode of his life. - 那个巧言令色的说谎高手告诉我他有了婚外恋，但没有告诉我其中龌龊的细节。
The plausible liar told me he'd had an affair but he spared me the sordid details.
从这个概念进一步发展， sordid 还用来形容人“贪婪的、自私的、利欲熏心的”，常意味着一种卑鄙的贪婪，比如：
- 那个雄心勃勃的销售培训生正探身窗外，瞻望锦绣前程。但他的抱负有点儿重利，太热衷于发财致富。
The sales trainee with grandiose ambitions was leaning out of the window and looking ahead to a grandiose future. But his ambitions were a little sordid, too intent upon growing rich.
此外， sordid 还可以用来形容颜色“色彩暗淡的、灰褐色的”以及形容某些鸟类和鱼类“颜色混浊灰暗的”。
名著用例
The washrooms were disagreeable, crude, if not foul places, and the whole atmosphere was sordid.
洗手间即使不算肮脏恶臭，也是粗陋不堪，空气污秽恶劣。
出自美国现实主义作家西奥多·德莱赛（Theodore Dreiser）创作的长篇小说《嘉莉妹妹》（Sister Carrie）。参见：名著下载 | 嘉莉妹妹（Sister Carrie）
同近义词
- tawdry: sordid or unpleasant
- abject: (of a person or their behavior) completely without pride or dignity; self-abasing
- sleazy: (of a person or situation) sordid, corrupt, or immoral
