foulsome
/ˈfaʊlsəm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Characterised or marked by foulness or filth; filthy; (by extension) wretched.
Example Sentences
- "“Hah. And a good thing it is that you have. It's almost time for us to leave this foulsome planet, and we'll be needing all the help we can muster.” “It's not a foulsome planet!” Rita snapped."
- "Manure thus becomes a symbol of the alchemy effected by divine grace, which is capable of transforming something odious and foulsome into something beautiful and glorious, thus making us meritorious of heavenly reward: [...]"
- "This made for an even more “foulsome, suffocating abode.” Men lay in swaying canvas hammocks, or packed side by side on the floor, scratching at omnipresent lice and breathing fetid air reeking of unwashed bodies and rank breath."
- "In particular, speakers most elaborately characterized the interjection chix, which indexes foulsome things, the interjection uyaluy, which indexes dangerous things, and the interjection ay, when it indexes painful events."
- "The lead seals confining the liquefying body of the former king were not secure and foulsome black ooze seeped from one edge."
Etymology
A variant of fulsome, from Middle English fulsome (“arousing disgust, loathsome”), remodelled after foul. Equivalent to foul + -some. Cognate with Scots foulsome, fowsum.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Inflected Forms
more foulsome (comparative)
most foulsome (superlative)