Foulness

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈfaʊəl.nəs/

Definitions

1. The condition of being dirty, unpleasant, or unclean ; the characteristic of being morally offensive, wicked, or evil
2. A state of contamination or filthiness ; a trait that causes disgust due to immorality or depravity
3. The quality of having an unpleasant smell, taste, or appearance ; the attribute of being morally bad or repugnant

Etymology: Foulness is a plain formation: the adjective "foul" with the suffix "-ness", which turns a quality into a noun. The adjective itself is very old in English, and the noun is already attested in Old English as "fūlnes," so the word has been describing filth and corruption for well over a thousand years. Its Middle English form was "foulnesse" or "foulnes," which later settled into the modern spelling. The most interesting thread is the Dutch cousin "vuilnis," which means rubbish or garbage. That word shows the original sense of the family quite physically: the foulness was the dirt and refuse itself, not an abstract quality. Over time the English noun kept both strands, the literal stench or grime and the moral sense of something repugnant or corrupt, so a single word can describe a bad smell and a bad character with equal ease.

Synonyms: noxiousness, offensiveness, stink, repulsiveness

Antonyms: freshness, purity, cleanliness