foul
/faʊl/adjective, verb, noun
foul is spelled F-O-U-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,565th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “foul vs fowl” about 880 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, foul means “Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in foul?
| Letters | 4: F-O-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 11 times per million words; the 6,565th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
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); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is foul?
Foul appears 11 times per million words in written English, the 6,565th 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 foul?
- /faʊl/
- /ˈfaʊ.əl/
Foul 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-us-foul.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with foul
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: fowl (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of foul
- fouler comparative
- foulest superlative
- fouls present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- fouling participle, present
- fouled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does foul mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Covered with, or containing unclean matter; dirty.
This cloth is too foul to use as a duster.
- 2
Obscene, vulgar or abusive.
The rascal spewed forth a series of foul words.
- 3
Detestable, unpleasant, loathsome.
He has a foul set of friends.
- 4
Disgusting, repulsive; causing disgust.
This foul food is making me retch.
- 5
obsoleteUgly; homely; poor.
- 6
Unpleasant, stormy or rainy. (of the weather)
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.
verb
- 1
To make dirty.
to foul the face or hands with mire
- 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 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.
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: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Foul in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | souillé , indécent , répugnant , faute , hors-jeu |
| German | schmutzig, stinkend, unrein , unflätig, vulgär ausdrückend, unanständig |
| Spanish | inmundo , indecente, grosero, obsceno , repugnante, perro |
| Portuguese | detestável , fazer uma falta, cometer uma falta , falta |
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 foul come from?
Inherited from Middle English ffoul, foul, foull, fowel, fowle, fuyle, voul, vul, 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- (“foul, rotten”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).