😈 Evil behavior 🤢 A bad smell 🗑️ Dirtiness 🌧️ Bad weather

foulness

1 7.2

A strong, very bad smell from sewage or rotten garbage

noun
/ˈfaʊlnəs/

: hedor

I don't know how I could have missed his death-dance, but when I nudged him, I smelled the foulness of his clothes, and I knew that at last his great body was emptied of its spirit.
smell the foulness

Examples

The foulness coming from the stagnant water was so offensive that we had to leave the area immediately.
The peace of waking up in the morning with the taste of foulness in her mouth and saying, "Blessed is

Fiction book (1993)
I saw the same shadows with Rachel and smelled the same foulness.

Fiction book (2002)
Andy crawled to freedom through five hundred yards of shit-smelling foulness.

Fiction book (1994)
Andy crawled to freedom through 500 yards of shit-smelling foulness I can't even imagine.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Gershanovich sensed him from his foreign breath—a stinking foulness carried out from his innards.

Fiction book (1998)
As I entered the abandoned house, a strong foulness filled my nostrils, making it hard to breathe.
The foulness of the garbage left out in the sun was unbearable, causing people to cover their noses.

Synonyms

odor

vsfoulness

137 1.9

A strong or noticeable smell, often unpleasant like smoke

is focused specifically on strong offensive smells rather than any smell

stink

vsfoulness

82 1.1

A very bad smell that people dislike

is the more formal or neutral term for the same bad smell

stench

vsfoulness

81 3.5

A very bad strong smell that makes you feel sick

covers strong unpleasant smells generally rather than only extreme cases

pungent smell

vsfoulness

2 3.3

A strong sharp smell that makes your eyes water

is the general offensive smell quality without implying sharpness

niff

vsfoulness

1 9.9

An unpleasant strong smell that comes from old or dirty things

is the broader everyday term for any strong offensive smell

rankness

vsfoulness

1 9.0

A very strong bad smell that makes you feel sick

is the simpler, more general term for that offensive smell quality

stinkiness

vsfoulness

1 4.3

A strong unpleasant smell that makes people move away

is the plain general name for that same smelling quality

mephitis

vsfoulness

1 9.9

A strong, very bad smell that makes people feel sick

is broader and used in ordinary speech for strong bad smells

fetidness

vsfoulness

1 8.4

A very strong unpleasant smell that makes people feel sick

is the same idea expressed in more general everyday language

acridness

vsfoulness

1 8.1

A strong, bitter smell or taste that burns the nose

is limited to bad smells and does not imply taste bitterness

yucky smell

vsfoulness

Informal

1 5.6

A strong, nasty smell like rotten food that makes you feel sick

is the neutral general word used in standard adult speech

pestilential smell

vsfoulness

Literature

1 9.4

A very strong bad air that makes you think of rotting things or disease

is the general sense of a strong offensive smell, not disease specific

malodorousness

vsfoulness

8.9

A strong, unpleasant smell that is easy to notice

is the general word for that same unpleasant smell quality

whiffy odor

vsfoulness

Informal

7.4

A strong, unpleasant smell that people dislike

is the general word for strong offensive smells without slangy tone

Antonyms

freshness

11 1.0

The state of being new and clean, not stale or spoiled

sweetness

1 1.0

A pleasant smell like flowers or fresh bread

How Smelly

stench

81 3.5

foulness

1 7.2

reek

5 6.1

odor

137 1.9

Surface Forms

foulness singular

foulnesses plural

Morphology

foulness = foul (transparent) = foul + ness

Formed by adding the noun-forming suffix '-ness' to the adjective 'foul'; the sense of bad smell is directly predictable from 'foul'.

Etymology

Foulness comes from an old English word fūl meaning 'rotten' or 'bad', plus the ending -ness that makes a quality. So, foulness is the quality of having a very bad, strong smell.