different between dirty vs befoul

English

Etymology

From Middle English dirti, alteration of earlier dritti, equivalent to dirt +? -y. See also drite.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d??ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?d?ti/, [?d??i]
• Rhymes: -??(?)ti

Adjective

dirty (comparative dirtier, superlative dirtiest)

1. Unclean; covered with or containing unpleasant substances such as dirt or grime.

   Synonyms: filthy, soiled, sordid, unclean, unwashed; see also Thesaurus:unclean

   Antonyms: clean; see also Thesaurus:clean

2. That makes one unclean; corrupting, infecting.

3. Morally unclean; obscene or indecent, especially sexually.

   Synonyms: indecent, lewd, obscene, raunchy, salacious

4. Dishonourable; violating accepted standards or rules.

   Synonyms: cheating, foul, unsporting, unsportsmanlike

   Antonym: sportsmanlike

5. Corrupt, illegal, or improper.

   Synonyms: base, dishonest, dishonorable, filthy, despicable, lousy, mean, sordid, unethical, vile

6. Out of tune.

7. Of color, discolored by impurities.

   Synonyms: dingy, dullish, muddied, muddy

   Antonyms: bright, pure

8. (computing) Containing data needing to be written back to memory or disk.

9. (slang) Carrying illegal drugs among one's possessions or inside of one's bloodstream.

10. (informal) Used as an intensifier, especially in conjunction with "great".

11. Sleety; gusty; stormy.
    • 1867, Matthew Arnold, On the Study of Celtic Literature

      Storms of wind, clouds of dust, an angry, dirty sea.

12. (slang) Of an alcoholic beverage, especially a cocktail or mixed drink: served with the juice of olives.

    Antonym: neat

13. Of food, indulgent in an unhealthy way.
    • 2020, Mellissa Sevigny, Squeaky Clean Keto: Next Level Keto to Hack Your Health, Victory Belt Publishing (?ISBN), page 13:

      Dirty keto refers to an approach that follows the typical keto macro ratios, but the components include “dirty” foods like fast food, packaged convenience foods, processed meats, artificially sweetened diet sodas and sports drinks, and unhealthy ...

14. Spreading harmful radiation over a wide area.

    a dirty explosion

    a dirty bomb

15. (Utah) Of a carbonated soft drink (soda or coke), the addition of an extra flavor shot, such as those sold by chains Sodalicious and Swig

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

dirty (comparative more dirty, superlative most dirty)

1. In a dirty manner.

   Synonyms: deceptively, dirtily, indecently, underhandedly

Derived terms

• talk dirty

Translations

Verb

dirty (third-person singular simple present dirties, present participle dirtying, simple past and past participle dirtied)

1. (transitive) To make (something) dirty.

   Synonyms: soil, taint; see also Thesaurus:dirty

2. (transitive) To stain or tarnish (somebody) with dishonor.

   Synonym: sully

3. (transitive) To debase by distorting the real nature of (something).
4. (intransitive) To become soiled.

Translations

References

English

Etymology

be- +? foul

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??fa?l/
• Rhymes: -a?l

Verb

befoul (third-person singular simple present befouls, present participle befouling, simple past and past participle befouled)

1. To make foul; to soil; to contaminate, pollute.
   • 1846, Charles Dickens, Pictures from Italy, London: for the author, “Avignon to Genoa,” p. 34,^[1]

     These heights are a desirable retreat, for less picturesque reasons—as an escape from a compound of vile smells perpetually arising from a great harbour full of stagnant water, and befouled by the refuse of innumerable ships with all sorts of cargoes: which, in hot weather, is dreadful in the last degree.

   • 1897, Robert Gwynneddon Davies (translator), The Sleeping Bard by Ellis Wynne, London: Simplkon, Marshall & Co., Part I,^[2]

     At last, what with a round of blasphemy, and the whole crowd with clay pistols belching smoke and fire and slander of their neighbours, and the floor already befouled with dregs and spittle, I feared lest viler deeds should happen, and craved to depart.

   • 1983, Mary Stewart, The Wicked Day, New York: William Morrow, Chapter 5, p. 53,^[3]

     Only the four walls of his home still stood, blackened and smoking with the sluggish, stinking smoke that befouled the sea-wind.

   • 1997, Ted Hughes, Tales from Ovid, “Echo and Narcissus” in Paul Keegan (ed.), Ted Hughes: Collected Poems, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003, p. 919,^[4]

     There was a pool of perfect water.

     […] No cattle

     Had slobbered their muzzles in it

     And befouled it.

2. (specifically) To defecate on, to soil with excrement.
   • 1666, George Alsop, A Character of the Province of Mary-Land, London: Peter Dring, Preface,^[5]

     For its an ill Bird will befoule her own Nest […]

   • 1748, Tobias Smollett, The Adventures of Roderick Random, London: J. Osborn, Volume I, Chapter 12, p. 91,^[6]

     “ […] But pray what smell is that? Sure your lapdog has befoul’d himself;—let me catch hold of the nasty cur, I’ll teach him better manners.”

3. (figuratively) To stain or mar (for example with infamy or disgrace).
   • 1894, Hall Caine, The Manxman, London: Heinemann, Part 5, p. 282,^[7]

     For three days Pete bore himself according to his wont, thinking to silence the evil tongues of the little world about him, and keep sweet and alive the dear name which they were waiting to befoul and destroy.

   • 1923, James Branch Cabell, The High Place, London: John Lane, Part 2, Chapter 15,^[8]

     “ […] you combine a vulgar atheism and an iconoclastic desire to befoul the sacred ideas of the average man or woman, collectively scorned as the bourgeoisie——”

   • 1927, Frances Noyes Hart, The Bellamy Trial, Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Co., 1929, Chapter 5, p. 159,^[9]

     There she sits before you, gentlemen, betrayed by her husband, befouled by every idle tongue that wags […]

4. To entangle or run against so as to impede motion. (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Synonyms

• (stain or mar): besmirch, sully, tarnish

Related terms

• afoul

Translations