squalor
Poverty's visible face
Squalor is a state of extreme filth, poverty, and neglect.
It describes conditions that are both physically dirty and morally degrading: They found the children living in squalor.
The word suggests not just mess but accumulated wretchedness—garbage, vermin, broken fixtures, the visible evidence of desperation or abandonment.
State of lacking necessities
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
- destitutionExtreme poverty, lacking necessities
hardship · want · neediness · slum · ghetto · tenement · shantytown · favela
Ingrained surface dirt
- dirtLoose dry earth
- uncleanlinessState of being soiled
- muckFilthy wet dirt
- sootCarbon from incomplete burning
foulness · nastiness · filthiness · sordidness · stench · vermin · rats · cockroaches
Process of declining quality
- ruinComplete destruction or collapse
- degradationDecline in condition
- disrepairPoor maintained condition
- rotOrganic breakdown process
dilapidation · crumble · blight · desolation · wreckage · collapse · decomposition · disintegration
Act of leaving permanently
- derelictionAbandonment of duty
- negligenceFailure to exercise care
- disregardWillful lack of attention
- inattentionLack of focus
disuse · unconcern · carelessness · apathy · indifference · unmaintained · overgrown · condemned
deprivation
State of lacking necessities
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
- penuryExtreme lack of money
- indigenceExtreme poverty, total want
destitution · hardship · want · neediness · slum · ghetto · tenement · shantytown · favela · hovel
grime
Ingrained surface dirt
- dirtLoose dry earth
- uncleanlinessState of being soiled
- muckFilthy wet dirt
soot · foulness · nastiness · filthiness · sordidness · stench · vermin · rats · cockroaches · garbage
deterioration
Process of declining quality
- ruinComplete destruction or collapse
- degradationDecline in condition
- disrepairPoor maintained condition
rot · dilapidation · crumble · blight · desolation · wreckage · collapse · decomposition · disintegration · decrepitude
abandonment
Act of leaving permanently
- derelictionAbandonment of duty
- negligenceFailure to exercise care
- disregardWillful lack of attention
inattention · disuse · unconcern · carelessness · apathy · indifference · unmaintained · overgrown · condemned · uninhabitable
- living conditionshousing, income, employment, healthcare access, education access
- Global Povertymalnutrition, starvation, food security, clean water, dirty water
- slumsslum, slums, shanty, shanties, shack
- Urban Problemsurban blight, blight, abandoned buildings, vacant lots, crime rates
- Victorian povertyworkhouse, poorhouse, tenement, slum, hovel
- hellholeshellhole, dungeons, dungeon, dump, dumps
squalorcleanliness
Absence of dirt
tidiness · neatness · orderliness · spotlessness · hygiene