Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for foulness. Search instead for usualnesses.
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

Smell Words

Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!

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

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

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

How does she have time to throw such petty foulness into the town square?

From Washington Post • Nov. 30, 2021

The throng haint’s foulness seeped into her mouth like the aftertaste of sour milk.

From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older

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.