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.
See Examples For:
A romp in the swamp or failure in the foulness of a Rome afternoon?
From BBC ● Feb. 7, 2026
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
How does she have time to throw such petty foulness into the town square?
From Washington Post ● Nov. 30, 2021
She couldn’t even strike it without some of its foulness seeping into her, draining her life force.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
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
"Foulness" and "shedding his liquor" are not necessarily contingent; but fulness and overflowing are.
From Notes and Queries, Number 206, October 8, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George
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)
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.
