foul

/faʊl/

//faʊl// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"foul" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“foul” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #6,574. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#6,574
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.

Corpus desk

Index EN-foul · foul · English

foul · rank #6,574 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,574
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fled

Nearest frequency peer: fled (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “foul”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “foul” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

foul vs fu
50% similar
foul vs fun
50% similar
foul vs fox
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for foul
PropertyValue
Headwordfoul
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/faʊl/
Letters4
Frequency rank#6,574
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “foul”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).foullands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “fled” (#6,573), “frankly” (#6,575), “filing” (#6,572). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “foul” is #6,574. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around foul (IPA /faʊl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #6,574 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for foul, with forms such as "ffoul", "folu", and "foull". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fu", "fun", "fox", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English foul, from Old English fūl (“foul, dirty, unclean, impure, vile, corrupt, rotten, stinking, guilty”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūl, from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“foul, rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“to rot”). Cognat… The correct English form is foul, spelled F-O-U-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
  2. 2
    Obscene, vulgar or abusive.
  3. 3
    Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome.
  4. 4
    Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust.
  5. 5
    Ugly; homely; poor.
  6. 6
    Unpleasant, stormy or rainy. (of the weather)
  7. 7
    Dishonest or not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.
  8. 8
    Entangled and therefore restricting free movement, not clear.
  9. 9
    (with "of") Positioned on, in, or near enough to (a specified area) so as to obstruct it.
  10. 10
    Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how foul appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This cloth is too foul to use as a duster.
  2. His foul hands got dirt all over the kitchen.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English foul, from Old English fūl (“foul, dirty, unclean, impure, vile, corrupt, rotten, stinking, guilty”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūl, from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“foul, rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“to rot”). Cognate with Dutch vuil (“foul, dirty, filthy, obscene, lewd”), German faul (“foul, rotten, putrid, lazy”), German Low German fuul (“foul, rotten, putrid”), Faroese fúlur (“foul”), Icelandic fúll (“foul, rotten, sullen”), Danish ful (“nasty, ugly”), Norwegian Bokmål ful (“clever, sly”), and Swedish ful (“ugly, dirty, bad”), and through Indo-European, with Albanian fëlliq (“to make dirty”), Latin puter (“rotten”). More at putrid. Ancient Greek φαῦλος (phaûlos, “bad”) is a false cognate inasmuch as it is not from the same etymon, instead being cognate to few.

Synonyms

shamefulodiouswretchedfrightful

This word in other languages

inmundo(Español)souillé(Français)schmutzig(Deutsch)detestável(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ffoul
  • folu
  • foull
  • fuol
  • oful

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of foul - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ffoul1folu2foull1fuol2oful2
Edit distance from "foul"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "foul"?
"foul" is spelled F-O-U-L. The IPA pronunciation is /faʊl/.
What does "foul" mean?
As an adjective, "foul" means: Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
What words are commonly confused with "foul"?
"foul" is commonly confused with "fu", "fun", "fox". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "foul"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "foul" is /faʊl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "foul"?
Inherited from Middle English foul, from Old English fūl (“foul, dirty, unclean, impure, vile, corrupt, rotten, stinking, guilty”), from Proto-West Germanic *fūl, from Proto-Germanic *fūlaz (“foul, rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European *puH- (“to rot... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "foul", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

fled#6,573hack#6,578lamp#6,586buzz#6,550

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

ellen5 variantsbout5 variantsoven5 variantsOwen5 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list