befouled 1 of 2

befouled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of befoul

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of befouled
Adjective
The Twits, simply trying to promote their befouled business interests, launch a campaign to restore past greatness. — Richard Lawson, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Verb
That will prevent polluted excess water being sent on estuaries east and west of the lake that have befouled waters with blue-green algae that has led to massive deaths of marine life within the past decade. — Jim Turner, Miami Herald, 15 May 2026 Los Angeles, that magical realm of shimmering natural beauty, was befouled by smog — maybe forever. — Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026 Fennell also cut the novel’s frame story, in which the events of the story are told by the housekeeper Nelly (played in the movie by Hong Chau) to an outside observer years after all the sorrowful drama that befouled Heathcliff and Cathy. — Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026 They should not be thrown, jumped off, eaten, screamed at, or otherwise befouled. — Eddie Small, New Yorker, 6 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for befouled
Adjective
  • Raman has promised to speed up housing construction, bring back entertainment industry jobs and improve services in a city known for filthy streets, gridlock and an unresponsive City Hall.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026
  • Jurors heard testimony from three of Alsheikh’s victims who said they were packed into small, filthy, cold, wet cells that were infested with insects and other vermin.
    — Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 19 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The prosecutor then showed the jury Daniela’s shirt, which the detective said was stained by brown decomposition fluid, and Julia’s clothing, including her underwear soaked in blood.
    — Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Dozens of arrests have been made but so far no one has been convicted in an affair that traumatized Mexico and stained the country's reputation.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 29 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • In the northern part of the district, the waterfront is polluted by ships.
    — Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Our state has thousands of sites already polluted with toxic chemicals and other pollutants, and those projects affect air quality, safe drinking water and community health for millions of Californians.
    — Shannon Olivieri Hovis, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • The land, unfenced, abuts a bald blackened hillside that must be public land.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Verb
  • When stormwater dirtied by road runoff, failing septic tanks and fertilizer sullied crystal-clear rivers and lakes, and nobody cared.
    — Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2026
  • Garments can be dirtied again by the elements if air-dried outside.
    — Mary Cornetta, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Dec. 2025
Verb
  • The video cuts to Swift living out exactly what Johnson’s been living through, revealing that Farrell poisoned Swift, leading to her death.
    — Nicole Fell, HollywoodReporter, 27 Sep. 2026
  • In her other case, Hogan has been accused of trying to falsify a paternity test in a custody battle with her ex-fiancé, who was not the same man who was allegedly poisoned.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 25 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • This East of Eden is a gorgeous production, deliberately stark and vast and dusty rather than lushly floral like the 1955 film.
    — Kathryn VanArendonk, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026
  • In one, a dark-haired man played the Camille Saint-Saëns song on a dusty violin while a ballerina in a fanlike feathery skirt danced the part of the swan.
    — Tom Drury, Harpers Magazine, 29 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Shortly after Palace’s next match had finished, a defeat by Everton on the opening weekend of the new season, his reputation among the supporters had been sullied again.
    — Matt Woosnam, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
  • Such shenanigans are more or less expected, and certainly haven’t forever sullied the American soccer fan base, at least here at home.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 7 July 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Befouled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befouled. Accessed 3 Oct. 2026.

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