Latin

Adjective

turpis m, f ‎(neuter turpe); third declension

1. ugly, unsightly; foul, filthy
   • Attributed to Ennius by Cicero in De natura deorum, Book I, Chapter XXXV

     Simia quam similis turpissima bestia nobis!

     How similar to us is that most vile beast, the ape!

2. (of sound) cacophonous, disagreeable
3. (figuratively) base, infamous, scandalous, dishonorable, shameful, disgraceful

Inflection

Third declension.

• comparative: turpior, superlative: turpissimus

Derived terms

Descendants

References

• turpis in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• turpis in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “turpis”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
• Meissner, Carl; Auden, Henry William (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
  • a virtuous (immoral) life: vita honesta (turpis)
    
  • to follow virtue; to flee from vice: honesta expetere; turpia fugere