- 1dirty and smelling bad foul air/breath a foul-smelling prison Foul drinking water was blamed for the epidemic. Thesaurusdisgusting
- foul
- revolting
- repulsive
- offensive
- gross
- disgusting extremely unpleasant and making you feel slightly ill:What a disgusting smell!
- foul dirty, and tasting or smelling bad:She could smell his foul breath.
- revolting extremely unpleasant and making you feel slightly ill:The stew looked revolting.
- Both of these words are used to describe things that smell and taste unpleasant, and unpleasant personal habits and people who have them. There is no real difference in meaning, but disgusting is more frequent, especially in spoken English.
- repulsive (somewhat formal) extremely unpleasant in a way that offends you or makes you feel slightly ill Repulsive usually describes people, their behavior, or their habits, that you may find offensive for physical or moral reasons.
- offensive (formal) (especially of smells) extremely unpleasant.
- gross (informal) (of a smell, taste, or personal habit) extremely unpleasant.
- disgusting/revolting/repulsive/offensive to somebody
- to find somebody/something disgusting/revolting/repulsive/offensive
- to smell/taste disgusting/foul/revolting/gross
- a(n) disgusting/foul/revolting/offensive/gross smell/odor
- a disgusting/foul/revolting/repulsive/gross habit
- disgusting/repulsive/offensive/gross behavior
- a disgusting/revolting/repulsive man/woman/person
- 2very unpleasant; very bad She's in a foul mood. His boss has a foul temper. This tastes foul. Thesaurusterrible
- awful
- horrible
- dreadful
- foul
- horrendous
- terrible very bad or unpleasant; making you feel unhappy, frightened, upset, ill, guilty, or disapproving:What terrible news! That's a terrible thing to say!
- awful (somewhat informal) very bad or unpleasant; used to describe something that you do not like or that makes you feel depressed, ill, guilty, or disapproving:That's an awful color. The weather last summer was awful.
- horrible (somewhat informal) very unpleasant; used to describe something that you do not like:The coffee tasted horrible.
- dreadful (somewhat informal) very bad or unpleasant; used to describe something that you do not like or that you disapprove of:My schedule is dreadful this week.
- foul extremely bad or unpleasant:A foul odor came from the kitchen. He was in a foul mood.
- horrendous (somewhat informal) extremely unpleasant and unacceptable:The traffic around the city was horrendous.
- terrible/awful/horrible/dreadful for somebody
- a(n) terrible/awful/horrible/dreadful/foul thing
- a(n) terrible/awful/horrible/foul smell
- terrible/awful/horrible/dreadful/vile/horrendous conditions
- terrible/awful/horrible/dreadful/foul weather
- terrible/awful/dreadful news
- 3(of language) including rude words and swearing synonym offensive foul language I'm sick of her foul mouth (= habit of swearing). He called her the foulest names imaginable.
- 4(of weather) very bad, with strong winds and rain a foul night
- 5(literary) very evil or cruel synonym abominable a foul crime/murder
NAmE//ˈfaʊlli//
adverb He swore foully. She had been foully murdered during the night. Thesaurusterrible- awful
- horrible
- dreadful
- foul
- horrendous
- terrible very bad or unpleasant; making you feel unhappy, frightened, upset, ill, guilty, or disapproving:What terrible news! That's a terrible thing to say!
- awful (somewhat informal) very bad or unpleasant; used to describe something that you do not like or that makes you feel depressed, ill, guilty, or disapproving:That's an awful color. The weather last summer was awful.
- horrible (somewhat informal) very unpleasant; used to describe something that you do not like:The coffee tasted horrible.
- dreadful (somewhat informal) very bad or unpleasant; used to describe something that you do not like or that you disapprove of:My schedule is dreadful this week.
- foul extremely bad or unpleasant:A foul odor came from the kitchen. He was in a foul mood.
- horrendous (somewhat informal) extremely unpleasant and unacceptable:The traffic around the city was horrendous.
- terrible/awful/horrible/dreadful for somebody
- a(n) terrible/awful/horrible/dreadful/foul thing
- a(n) terrible/awful/horrible/foul smell
- terrible/awful/horrible/dreadful/vile/horrendous conditions
- terrible/awful/horrible/dreadful/foul weather
- terrible/awful/dreadful news
noun [uncountable] The foulness of the airIdioms
using dishonest methods if honest ones do not work She's determined to win, by fair means or foul.
to complain that someone else has done something wrong or unfair
to get into trouble with a person or an organization because of doing something wrong or illegal to fall foul of the lawSee foul in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: foul