foul
/ˈfaʊl/
adjectiveverbnoun
Common
1.adj.highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
“a disgusting smell”
2.adj.offensively malodorous
“a foul odor”
3.adj.violating accepted standards or rules
“a dirty fighter”
Loading page
foul and fowl are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. foul means “highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust”. fowl means “a domesticated gallinaceous bird thought to be descended from the red jungle fowl”. foul is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈfaʊl/
1.adj.highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
“a disgusting smell”
2.adj.offensively malodorous
“a foul odor”
3.adj.violating accepted standards or rules
“a dirty fighter”
/ˈfaʊl/
| foul | fowl | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈfaʊl/ | /ˈfaʊl/ |
| Said | fowl | fowl |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 4 |
| Parts of speech | adjective, verb, noun | noun, verb |
| Senses | 16 | 4 |
| How common | Common | Familiar |
| Synonyms | disgusting, disgustful, distasteful | domestic fowl, poultry |
Full entry for foul · Full entry for fowl · More comparisons
1.n.a domesticated gallinaceous bird thought to be descended from the red jungle fowl
2.n.the flesh of a bird or fowl (wild or domestic) used as food
3.v.hunt fowl