Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sordid \Sor"did\, a. [L. sordidus, fr. sordere to be filthy or
   dirty; probably akin to E. swart: cf. F. sordide. See
   {Swart}, a.]
   1. Filthy; foul; dirty. [Obs.]

            A sordid god; down from his hoary chin A length of
            beard descends, uncombed, unclean.    --Dryden.

   2. Vile; base; gross; mean; as, vulgar, sordid mortals. ``To
      scorn the sordid world.'' --Milton.

   3. Meanly avaricious; covetous; niggardly.

            He may be old, And yet sordid, who refuses gold.
                                                  --Sir J.
                                                  Denham.

Source : WordNet®

sordid
     adj 1: morally degraded; "a seedy district"; "the seamy side of
            life"; "sleazy characters hanging around casinos";
            "sleazy storefronts with...dirt on the walls"- Seattle
            Weekly; "the sordid details of his orgies stank under
            his very nostrils"- James Joyce; "the squalid
            atmosphere of intrigue and betrayal" [syn: {seamy}, {seedy},
             {sleazy}, {squalid}]
     2: unethical or dishonest; "dirty police officers"; "a sordid
        political campaign" [syn: {dirty}]
     3: foul and run-down and repulsive; "a flyblown bar on the edge
        of town"; "a squalid overcrowded apartment in the poorest
        part of town"; "squalid living conditions"; "sordid
        shantytowns" [syn: {flyblown}, {squalid}]
     4: meanly avaricious and mercenary; "sordid avarice"; "sordid
        material interests"