filth
/fɪlθ/noun
filth is spelled F-I-L-T-H: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, filth means “Dirt; foul matter; that which soils or defiles” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of filth is filths.
How many letters and syllables are in filth?
| Letters | 5: F-I-L-T-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.6 times per million words; the 16,896th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is filth?
Filth appears 2.6 times per million words in written English, the 16,896th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce filth?
- /fɪlθ/
Filth has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-filth.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of filth
- filths plural
- the filth
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does filth mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Dirt; foul matter; that which soils or defiles.
Before we start cooking we need to clean up the filth in this kitchen.
- 2
Smut; that which sullies or defiles the moral character; corruption; pollution.
He spends all his time watching filth on pornographic websites.
- 3
derogatoryA vile or disgusting person.
- 4
USdatedWeeds growing on pasture land.
Grampa remembers when he had to cut filth with a scythe.
- 5
IrelandUKderogatoryslangThe police.
We were in the middle of stashing the money when the filth arrived.
noun
- 1
UKderogatoryAcronym of failed in London, try Hongkong.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Filth in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense dirt:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | crasse, saleté, boue |
| German | Schmutz, Dreck |
| Portuguese | sujeira, imundície |
| Spanish | mugre, porquería, inmundicia, bascosidad, bahorrina, sarama |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does filth come from?
From Middle English filth, from Old English fȳlþu, from Proto-West Germanic *fūliþu, equivalent to foul + -th (abstract nominal suffix).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).