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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

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.

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foulness ¹ British  

/ ˈfaʊlnɪs /

noun

1. the state or quality of being foul

2. obscenity; vulgarity

3. viciousness or inhumanity

4. foul matter; filth

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Foulness ² British  

/ faʊlˈnɛs /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of foulness

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

Example Sentences

The Broomway is a route across flat sands from the shore near Southend-on-Sea to Foulness Island and is home to a Ministry of Defence firing range.

From BBC • Feb. 15, 2026

Foulness, for the most part, wins the day, and thus the beautiful paean, by Duncan and Banquo, to the home of the Macbeths—“a pleasant seat,” where “the air is delicate”—is expunged.

From The New Yorker • Dec. 7, 2015

In East Yorkshire there is a flood alert on the River Foulness and Market Weighton canal.

From BBC • Jun. 11, 2012

When this Agitation is over, the Sand, in falling to the Bottom of the Vessel, will attract some of the Foulness suspended in the Water.

From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)

For after the sailors could no longer come up the Thames, they came on to the Essex coast, to Harwich and Walton and Clacton, and afterwards to Foulness and Shoebury, to bring off the people.

From The War of the Worlds by Wells, H. G. (Herbert George)