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  • foulness
    foulness
    noun
    the state or quality of being foul.
  • Foulness
    Foulness
    noun
    a flat marshy island in SE England, in Essex north of the Thames estuary
Synonyms

foulness

American  
[foul-nis] / ˈfaʊl nɪs /

noun

  1. the state or quality of being foul.

    The foulness of the accusation incensed us all.

  2. something that is foul; foul matter; filth.

  3. wickedness.

foulness 1 British  
/ ˈfaʊlnɪs /

noun

  1. the state or quality of being foul

  2. obscenity; vulgarity

  3. viciousness or inhumanity

  4. foul matter; filth

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Foulness 2 British  
/ faʊlˈnɛs /

noun

  1. a flat marshy island in SE England, in Essex north of the Thames estuary

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of foulness

before 1150; Middle English; Old English fūlnes. See foul, -ness

Vocabulary lists containing foulness

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When he finally arrived, he idled in the driveway for a moment, hoping his foulness might dissipate before he had to encounter his young family.

From Slate • Nov. 26, 2022

The foulness of these places, for the animals that live in them and the people who live near them, truly defies words.

From New York Times • Jun. 7, 2022

You don’t need to see inside sealed legal filings to understand that the foulness wafted down from the top.

From Washington Post • Dec. 8, 2020

And across China, the smog becomes a dominant topic on social media, with the population tracking the foulness of the air via mobile phone apps.

From BBC • Jan. 14, 2017

He was thinking that if only he could get the Bloodbottler to take one bite of the repulsive vegetable, the sheer foulness of its flavour would send him bellowing out of the cave.

From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.