Meaning & use
foul
Last updated
Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Very unpleasant, especially in smell, taste or condition.
Grammar: Can go before a noun or after a linking verb: a foul smell, it smelled foul.
Patterns
- foul smell
- foul taste
A foul smell came from the old refrigerator.
The water in the pond tasted foul.
He woke with a foul taste in his mouth.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
Very rude, offensive or angry.
Grammar: Used about language or mood: foul language, a foul temper.
Patterns
- foul language
- in a foul mood
The coach was sent off for using foul language.
She was in a foul mood after missing her train.
adjectivecomparable
Stormy and unpleasant, used of weather.
Grammar: Often used in the phrase foul weather.
Patterns
- foul weather
The ferry stayed in port because of foul weather.
We hiked in foul conditions all week.
nouncountablesport
An act that breaks the rules of a sport, especially by unfair contact.
Grammar: Takes a/an: the referee called a foul.
Patterns
- commit a foul
- a foul on someone
The referee called a foul on the defender.
He was sent off after his third foul.
verbtransitive
To make something dirty or to block it up.
Grammar: Takes an object, often with up: foul the water.
Patterns
- foul something
- foul something up
Oil from the ship fouled the beach.
A fishing line fouled the boat's propeller.
verbtransitive or intransitivesport
To break the rules of a sport by unfair contact with an opponent.
Grammar: With or without an object: he fouled his opponent.
Patterns
- foul someone
The defender fouled the striker inside the penalty area.
He fouled twice in the first quarter.
Word forms
| comparative | fouler |
|---|---|
| superlative | foulest |
| third person singular | fouls |
| past tense | fouled |
| past participle | fouled |
| -ing form | fouling |
| plural | fouls |
Common combinations
- foul smell
- A foul smell filled the basement.
- foul play
- Police suspect foul play.
- foul language
- Foul language is not allowed in class.
- commit a foul
- He committed a foul right before the buzzer.
- foul weather
- Foul weather ruined the picnic.
Synonyms and how they differ
- disgusting
- Disgusting is more common in speech and focuses on the reaction it causes, whereas foul describes the thing itself.
- rank
- Rank describes a strong, unpleasant smell or taste and is narrower than foul.
- filthy
- Filthy means extremely dirty, but foul can be about smell, taste or behavior.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: foul or fowl?
foul vs fowl
Fowl means a bird such as a chicken, and sounds exactly like foul, but the two are spelled differently and are unrelated in meaning.
Practice
Which spelling is correct: 'The referee called a ___ against the defender.'?
Choose one answer.
Foul is the sport rule violation. Fowl is a bird and sounds the same, which makes it the tempting wrong choice.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “foul”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.