technical foul
noun
basketball
: a foul that is assessed to a player, coach, or team typically for unsportsmanlike conduct (such as arguing with an official or taunting an opponent) and does not usually involve physical contact with an opponent while the ball is in play
called also technical
compare personal foulExamples of technical foul in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Credit to the officials for not letting that ruin a great ending, but probably could have been a technical foul.
—
Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 18 Mar. 2026
Frustration boiled over on the Huskies’ sideline as Hurley stomped his foot and earned a technical foul from referee James Breeding with 12 and a half minutes left in the half.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 15 Mar. 2026
For his part, Dončić claimed after the game that Buzelis said something to him that would have earned the Lakers star a technical foul.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026
After surviving a dizzyingly chaotic regular-season finale at Ohio University that included two technical fouls and one flagrant on Miami, his RedHawks completed a perfect 31-0 regular season, the first to do so since Gonzaga in 2021 and only the eighth in the last 50 years.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 12 Mar. 2026
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Caleb Yum, Austin American Statesman, 18 Mar. 2026
Frustration boiled over on the Huskies’ sideline as Hurley stomped his foot and earned a technical foul from referee James Breeding with 12 and a half minutes left in the half.
—Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant, 15 Mar. 2026
For his part, Dončić claimed after the game that Buzelis said something to him that would have earned the Lakers star a technical foul.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 13 Mar. 2026
After surviving a dizzyingly chaotic regular-season finale at Ohio University that included two technical fouls and one flagrant on Miami, his RedHawks completed a perfect 31-0 regular season, the first to do so since Gonzaga in 2021 and only the eighth in the last 50 years.
—Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 12 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for technical foul
Cite this Entry
“Technical foul.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/technical%20foul. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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