foul

Fetched 2026-11-03 (live).

Datamuse reports no synonyms or antonyms for this word.

Adjective

1. Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
   • This cloth is too foul to use as a duster.
   • His foul hands got dirt all over the kitchen.
   • The air was so foul nobody could breathe.
   • A ship's bottom is foul when overgrown with barnacles
   • A well is foul with polluted water.
2. Obscene, vulgar or abusive.
   • The rascal spewed forth a series of foul words.
   • His foul language causes many people to believe he is uneducated.
3. Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome.
   • He has a foul set of friends.
4. Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust.
   • This foul food is making me retch.
   • There was a foul smell coming from the toilet.
5. Ugly; homely; poor.
6. Unpleasant, stormy or rainy.
   • Some foul weather is brewing.
7. Dishonest or not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.
   • Foul play is not suspected.
8. Entangled and therefore restricting free movement, not clear.
   • We've got a foul anchor.
   • A rope could get foul while it is being paid out.
9. (with "of") Positioned on, in, or near enough to (a specified area) so as to obstruct it.
10. Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.
    • Jones hit foul ball after foul ball.

Verb

1. To make dirty.
   • to foul the face or hands with mire
   • She's fouled her diaper.
2. To besmirch.
   • He's fouled his reputation.
3. To obstruct, block, or otherwise interfere with (something), for example by clogging (a drain, gun barrel, chimney, etc) or by being in the way of (a gunshot, etc).
   • The hair has fouled the drain.
4. To entangle.
   • The kelp has fouled the prop.
5. To make a play, such as a strong contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage, that is deemed by the referee to have contravened the rules.
   • Smith fouled him hard.
6. To commit a foul.
   • Smith fouled within the first minute of the quarter.
7. To hit outside of the baselines.
   • Jones fouled the ball off the facing of the upper deck.
8. To hit a ball outside of the baselines.
   • Jones fouled for strike one.
9. To become clogged.
   • The drain fouled.
10. To become entangled.
    • The prop fouled on the kelp.
11. To come into contact or collide with.

Noun

1. A breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; for example, tripping someone up in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball.
2. A (usually accidental) contact between a bowler and the lane before the bowler has released the ball.
3. A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines.
   • Jones hit a foul up over the screen.
4. A tangle or entanglement.

Source: Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wiktionary) · cached copy, not a rewrite.