foulness
Americannoun
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the state or quality of being foul.
The foulness of the accusation incensed us all.
-
something that is foul; foul matter; filth.
noun
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the state or quality of being foul
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obscenity; vulgarity
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viciousness or inhumanity
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foul matter; filth
noun
Etymology
Origin of foulness
before 1150; Middle English; Old English fūlnes. See foul, -ness
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
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
How does she have time to throw such petty foulness into the town square?
From Washington Post • Nov. 30, 2021
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.
