foul
/faʊl
/adjective
1Offensive to the senses, especially through having a disgusting smell or taste or being dirty: a foul odour his foul breath...
- They began hobbling towards the car, Leanne almost crumbling under the weight and the disgusting, foul smell of alcohol.
- He pulled me close to his face, so close that I could smell his foul breath.
- He came so close to her she could smell his foul breath, and she turned her head away.
Synonyms
disgusting, revolting, repellent, repulsive, repugnant, abhorrent, loathsome, offensive, detestable, awful, dreadful, horrible, terrible, horrendous, hideous, appalling, atrocious, vile, abominable, frightful, sickening, nauseating, nauseous, stomach-churning, stomach-turning, off-putting, uninviting, unpalatable, unappetizing, unsavoury, distasteful, nasty, obnoxious, objectionable, odious;
noxious, evil-smelling, foul-smelling, smelly, stinking, high, rank, rancid, fetid, malodorous;
North American vomitous
informal ghastly, horrid, gruesome, God-awful, gross, diabolical, putrid, yucky, icky, grotty, sick-making, gut-churning
British informal beastly, whiffy, pongy, niffy
North American informal lousy, skanky, funky
Australian informal on the nose
literary noisome, mephitic
archaic disgustful, loathly
rare miasmic, miasmal, olid
dirty, filthy, mucky, grimy, grubby, stained, dirt-encrusted, muddy, muddied, unclean, unwashed;
squalid, sordid, shabby, sleazy, nasty, soiled, sullied, scummy;
rotten, defiled, decaying, putrid, putrefied, smelly, fetid
informal cruddy, yucky, icky
British informal manky, gungy, grotty
literary befouled, besmirched, begrimed
rare feculent
1.1 informal Very disagreeable or unpleasant: the news had put Michelle in a foul mood...
- ‘OK, sorry,’ Leanne said, taken aback by Rob's uncharacteristically foul mood.
- Never mind me, I'm just in a foul mood after today's work.
- The 72-year-old R&B legend is in one of his famous foul moods.
Synonyms
unkind, unfriendly, disagreeable, inconsiderate, uncharitable, rude, churlish, spiteful, malicious, mean, mean-spirited, ill-tempered, ill-natured, ill-humoured, bad-tempered, hostile, vicious, malevolent, evil-minded, surly, obnoxious, poisonous, venomous, vindictive, malign, malignant, cantankerous, hateful, hurtful, cruel, wounding, abusive
informal bitchy, catty
vulgar slang shitty
2Wicked or immoral: murder most foul...
- In the popular consciousness, however, paganism and witchcraft have come to be associated with black magic, foul deeds, even devil-worship.
- There is a case of murder involved here - and a foul murder, at that - by a person who had a modus operandi that has been known to the police now for years.
- The phantom king begs Hamlet to avenge his foul murder.
2.1(Of language) obscene: foul oaths foul language...
- The language is foul (no surprise), and they have been seen urinating in front gardens.
- However, your language is exceedingly foul for someone in your position.
- Don't be distracted by my foul vocabulary or by your own frustration.
Synonyms
vulgar, obscene, profane, blasphemous, gross, coarse, crude, filthy, dirty, indecent, indelicate, suggestive, smutty, off colour, low, lewd, ribald, salacious, scatological, offensive, abusive
informal blue
2.2Done contrary to the rules of a sport: a foul tackle...
- In the first 20 minutes Knowles put his side into a 2-0 lead with two superb lobbed goals, but was later dismissed following a foul tackle.
- All I can say is that I'll certainly be expecting my men to get stuck in and it's up to the referee after that to decide what s a fair tackle and what s a foul tackle.
- Therefore, the proportion of foul tackles equates to the likelihood of player error occurring during the execution of a tackle.
3Containing or full of noxious matter; polluted: foul, swampy water...
- Most of these tasks were in the pipeline anyway as part of Beijing's plan to modernise its outdated infrastructure and clean up its notoriously foul air.
- In 1285 London's air was so foul that King Edward I set up an air pollution commission, which banned the use of coal.
- In the 19th century refuse, waste, water and foul water were just dumped in the streets, resulting in widespread disease.
Synonyms
contaminated, polluted, adulterated, infected, tainted, defiled, impure, filthy, dirty, unclean
rare feculent
3.1 (foul with) Clogged or choked with: the land was foul with weeds...
- She was glad not to be able to see much of the place, foul with seeping water and fungus, a chamber of old horrors where prisoners hunched under the vaults of cold stone like monstrous white insects, wingless and half-blind.
- Wheat is an exhausting crop, which requires land in good heart, whilst if grown continuously, or too frequently, disease often becomes serious, and, most important of all, the land becomes very foul with weeds.
3.2 Nautical (Of a rope or anchor) entangled.
3.3(Of a ship’s bottom) overgrown with weed, barnacles, or similar matter.
4(Of the weather) wet and stormy: he walked in fair and foul weather the weather turned foul...
- The new building will have improved facilities, ensuring it remains a welcome retreat for ramblers, particularly after climbing Mount Snowdon in foul weather.
- Meanwhile, while the Irish and their neighbours in Britain may bemoan the foul weather, spare a thought for residents along the east coast of the USA.
- The situation is worse when the weather is foul.
Synonyms
inclement, unpleasant, disagreeable, dirty, nasty, rough, bad;
stormy, squally, gusty, windy, blustery, blowy, wild, rainy, wet;
foggy, misty, gloomy, murky, overcast, louring
4.1 Sailing (Of wind or tide) opposed to one’s desired course: it sometimes becomes advantageous to anchor during the periods of foul tide...
- This is nearly twice the power usually found on boats this size and provides lots of power for punching through chop and motoring against foul winds and currents.
- Nicolson, a successful writer but somewhat inexperienced sailor, teams up with an old salt and buddy George Fairhurst, who continually bails them out of near calamities - foul currents, fierce tides, raging winds and equipment failures.
noun
1(In sport) an unfair or invalid stroke or piece of play, especially one involving interference with an opponent: the midfielder was booked for a foul on Ford...
- It was a tough time for the French and Silvestre, having already been booked for a foul on Gillespie, just couldn't contain the winger in the 69th minute.
- He even had the ball in the net, but was booked for a foul on the goalkeeper.
- World Cup referees yesterday vowed to crack down on players who orchestrate and feign fouls to get opponents in trouble.
Synonyms
unfair, against the rules, illegal, unsporting, unsportsmanlike, below the belt, dirty, dishonourable, dishonest, underhand, unscrupulous, unjust, unprincipled, immoral, crooked, fraudulent
informal shady
1.1A collision or entanglement in riding, rowing, or running.With a personal best of 6.68m from earlier in the season, she surprisingly had fouls on her first two efforts and waited long on the runway as she composed herself for her last attempt.
adverb
Contrary to the rules; unfairly.That's the real problem: even guys who want to play fair are under pressure from cheaters to play foul....
- Italian editors shrieked that the Austrian team had ‘played foul’.
- So that if you're knowingly taking advantage of people with a disadvantage, then you're coming foul of the Trade Practices Act.
verb [with object]
1Make foul or dirty; pollute: factories which fouled the atmosphere...
- Its design is outdated and inappropriate; its size, looks, and four-wheel drive bring out the worst in drivers; it clogs streets and fouls the air.
- At rush hour the streets are plugged with cars producing vast quantities of toxic gases that foul the air.
- Moreover, our dependency on coal to generate energy not only fouls our air, but poisons our fish with mercury.
Synonyms
dirty, soil, stain, blacken, muddy, begrime, splash, spatter, smear, befoul, besmirch, blight, defile, make filthy, infect, pollute, contaminate, poison, taint, adulterate, sully
literary besmear
1.1(Of an animal) make (something) dirty with excrement: make sure that your pet never fouls paths...
- The land is now being used by the football and rounders club, whose members want to stop dogs fouling the pitch and youngsters riding motorcycles across it.
- It was also pointed out that a fence was necessary to stop cattle from getting onto the boat club land and to stop dogs fouling pasture meant for silage.
- Concerned residents of the heritage town of Abbeyleix are surprised that there are a few dog owners who look the other way when their pets foul the footpaths and other public places.
1.2 (foul oneself) (Of a person) defecate involuntarily.Nervous of legal action from passengers humiliated by fouling themselves in their seats, most carriers allowed crew to decide whether the person requesting admission to the smallest part of the plane was desperate or a desperado....
- Now and then, she fouled herself or wet herself.
- They described ‘torture techniques’ and claimed that detainees had been forced into painful positions for 18 to 24 hours at a time or left to foul themselves.
2(In sport) commit a foul against (an opponent): United claim their keeper was fouled...
- The keeper fouled his opponent but avoided a red card.
- Portlaw did have claims for a penalty turned down late on when it seemed keeper Wayne English had fouled a Portlaw player in the area but referee Martin Halley waved play on.
- The Town keeper Darren O'Grady was obviously fouled as he went to catch a high punt with Gary Smyth tucking the loose ball into the unguarded net.
3(Of a ship) collide with or interfere with the passage of (another): the ships became overcrowded and fouled each other...
- In The Edison [1933] AC 449, the appellants, whose vessel had been fouled by the respondents, claimed damages under various heads.
3.1Cause (a cable, anchor, or other object) to become entangled or jammed: watch out for driftwood which might foul up the engine...
- It is apparent that the wreck has been cleared to below deck level, with some additional damage to the starboard side of the hull, perhaps a consequence of the Silver Harvest fouling its anchor on the wreck in 1998.
- The Stromness lifeboat attended the fishing vessel Arkhangel at 4pm on Saturday after the vessel fouled her propeller 20 miles off Noup Head in Westray.
- Stromness lifeboat was called out at the weekend after a Scrasbter fishing boat fouled her propeller in severe weather conditions.
Synonyms
tangle up, entangle, snarl, catch, entwine, enmesh, twist, tangle
Phrases
foul one's (own) nest
Phrasal verbs
foul something up (or foul up)
Derivatives
foully
/ adverb ...- The Richard III Society remains firmly convinced that Richard III was foully traduced by revisionists like William Shakespeare and other Tudor dynasty hagiographers.
- A feminist wore pants, smoked, drank, spoke foully, flaunted her promiscuity; in short she did everything those men had done and got away with for centuries.
- Tuesday was quiet, but at the Wednesday 2 a.m. break, the entire staff heard Olag curse, foully and for long minutes.
foulness
/ noun ...- Despite all the diseases they carry, the nuisance they make of themselves and their general foulness, I'm actually quite fond of these little rats.
- I couldn't run, or even move, for fear that the watery goop covering the floor would splash up and cover me with its oozing foulness.
- But for the sheer foulness of the atmosphere, you'd have to go some to beat Soho after about 11 at night - chucking out time.
Origin
Old English fūl, of Germanic origin; related to Old Norse fúll 'foul', Dutch vuil 'dirty', and German faul 'rotten, lazy', from an Indo-European root shared by Latin pus, Greek puos 'pus', and Latin putere 'to stink'.
The Old English word foul comes from an ancient root shared by Latin pus (adopted into late Middle English) Latin putere ‘to stink’ (source of LME putrid), and the original sense was ‘stinking or disgusting’. Foul play indicating unfair conduct or treachery is recorded from the late 16th century, and sports players have been able to complain of ‘a foul’ since the 1750s. See also fair
Rhymes
- loophole
- loopily
- loopiness
- loop line
- loop of Henle
- loop road
- loop stitch
- loop-stitched
- loop stitching
- loop the loop
- loopy
- loo roll
- Loos, Anita
- loose
- loose box
- loose cannon
- loose construction
- loose constructionist
- loose cover
- loose end
- loose-fitting
- loose-footed
- loose forward
- loose head
- loose housing