Home › Glossary › Letter F

foul

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Morally offensive, wicked, or evil; physically unclean, disgusting, or polluted; as a verb, to make dirty or to violate rules, as in sports or conduct.

Detailed Definition
As adjective, “foul” denotes corruption—of body, soul, or weather. As verb, it implies defilement. In poetry, it contrasts with “fair,” structuring moral binaries. Shakespeare’s “foul and fair” encapsulates paradox. Poets use it in invective, elegy, or prophecy to mark decay, sin, or pollution, grounding abstract vice in sensory disgust of rot, stench, or darkness.
Example
Example in poetry:
"Foul deeds will rise, though all the earth o’erwhelm them," from Hamlet; In Milton: "Foul as the fiend"; "Foul weather mirrors foul hearts," a proverbial line; "The foul stench of corruption filled the court"; "Foul befall the hand that strikes the innocent"; Foul night cloaked the assassin’s path.
Additional Notes
“Foul” encompasses moral, physical, and aesthetic corruption; in poetic invective or apocalyptic visions, “foul deeds” or “foul weather” mirror inner depravity, creating symbolic landscapes of sin or decay.
Also Known As
filthy unclean wicked fu' noisome
Skip to main content