foulness
noun
the state or quality of being foul.
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foulness
American
[foul-nis]
/ ˈfaʊl nɪs /
noun
-
the state or quality of being foul.
The foulness of the accusation incensed us all.
-
something that is foul; foul matter; filth.
foulness
1
British
/ ˈfaʊlnɪs /
noun
-
the state or quality of being foul
-
obscenity; vulgarity
-
viciousness or inhumanity
-
foul matter; filth
Foulness
2
British
/ faʊlˈnɛs /
noun
Etymology
Origin of foulness
before 1150; Middle English; Old English fūlnes. See foul, -ness
Vocabulary lists containing foulness
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.
A romp in the swamp or failure in the foulness of a Rome afternoon?
From BBC • Feb. 7, 2026
In the decades since, though, the main charge against the show hasn’t been foulness so much as incoherence.
From New York Times • Oct. 28, 2023
My entirely inadequate advice will remain unchanged: Sit in the foulness of the roiling storm and do your work, whatever that may be, and triangulate by the light of whatever star feels eternal to you.
From Slate • Nov. 4, 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
In Great Wexly, foulness lay on the wide road where we walked.
From "Crispin: The Cross of Lead" by Avi
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.
