The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms INTRO ...

adj. 1 cultivated, cultured, refined, experienced, worldly,
cosmopolitan, polished, elegant, urbane, worldly-wise,
knowledgeable, knowing, suave, soign‚(e), blas‚, chichi, slick,
Slang hip or hep, cool, with it: The Gordons mix with a pretty
sophisticated crowd. 2 advanced, complex, complicated,
intricate, elaborate, subtle, refined, multifaceted: The
desk-top computers of today are much more sophisticated than
most older main-frame systems.
sophistication
n. 1 worldliness, urbanity, culture, refinement, knowledge,
knowledgeability, cosmopolitanism, polish, elegance, poise,
suavity or suavit‚, savoir faire, savoir vivre, finesse,
discrimination, discernment, awareness, taste, tastefulness,
style: They want him on the board of directors of the museum
because he lends it sophistication. 2 complexity, intricacy,
subtlety, refinement: There is a staggering amount of
sophistication built into modern integrated circuits.
sorcerer n. sorceress, magus, necromancer, wizard, witch, warlock,
enchanter, enchantress, magician, thaumaturgist, shaman,
witch-doctor, medicine man: The law demanded death for the
sorcerers and for those who dealt with them.
sorcery n. witchcraft, enchantment, sortilege, necromancy, wizardry,
(black or white) magic, shamanism, black art, diabolism: Once
Vera works her sorcery on you, you obey her every whim.
sordid adj. 1 base, vile, corrupt, low, ignoble, debased, degraded,
abased, mean, ignominious, dishonourable, despicable,
disreputable, shabby, shameful, scurvy, rotten, execrable: He
forced his family to do the most sordid things to raise money.
2 avaricious, greedy, grasping, mercenary, piggish, hoggish,
selfish, rapacious, money-grubbing, stingy, parsimonious: His
most sordid plan was to pretend he was collecting money for the
handicapped. 3 dirty, foul, filthy, squalid, unclean, untidy,
mean, slummy, seamy, seedy, wretched, unsanitary, insanitary,
offensive, defiled, polluted, fetid, feculent, mucky, maggoty,
putrid, fly-blown, slimy: The conditions of some of the homes
the social workers visit are indescribably sordid. 4 wretched,
miserable, poor, poverty-stricken, down-and-out, impoverished,
ramshackle, hovel-like, tumbledown, dingy, seamy, seedy, slummy,
deteriorated, sleazy, back-alley: When he first came to town,