the.com/squalor

Squalor is the filth and decay that come with extreme poverty and neglect.

means The state of being filthy and degraded, usually from extreme poverty or neglect — the grime and decay, not just the lack of money.

from From Latin squalor, meaning filthiness or roughness, from the verb squalere, 'to be stiff, rough, or dirty' — originally used of skin caked with dirt or scales left unwashed. Latin writers used it for the unkempt, neglected look of mourners or exiles who'd given up grooming themselves. English borrowed it whole in the 1600s, keeping the sense of dirt that comes from neglect rather than just bad luck.

origin
From Latin squalere, to be filthy or rough
not just
Dirt implies effort to clean; squalor implies giving up
literary flex
Dickens built entire plots on describing it
key detail
Describes conditions, not people, despite how its used
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