befouled 1 of 2

adjective

as in filthy
not clean given the task of cleaning the animals' befouled pens

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befouled

2 of 2

verb

past tense of befoul
1
as in stained
to make dirty unsightly mud and slush befouls the family car every winter

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2
as in polluted
to make unfit for use by the addition of something harmful or undesirable the enemy had befouled the water in all of the area's wells with animal carcasses

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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
Myriad violations, from food that should’ve been trashed weeks earlier to filthy equipment, befouled the state inspection of a West Miami-Dade supermarket this week. — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 11 Oct. 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
  1. filthy
  2. stained
  3. polluted
  4. blackened
  5. dirtied
  6. poisoned
  7. dusty
  8. sullied
Adjective
  • There are several different subtypes of New York City Restaurant, from the humble old-timers (Katz’s, Nom Wah) to the temples of filthy lucre (Bemelmans, Rao’s).
    — Helen Rosner, New Yorker, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The invention’s intent was to cut down on distracted driving — in addition to the frustration of digging around under filthy car seats.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of filthy
Verb
  • Bookshelves are crammed with novels and almanacs, the wood boards of the ceilings stained dark in delicious contrast to the clean white walls and creamy linen furnishings.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The yellow color from the fenbendazole stained his white goatee.
    — Trisha Thadani Kirsten Potter Tanya Pérez Devin Murphy, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of stained
Verb
  • In a world riven by democratic backsliding and polluted with AI slop, there’s something seductive about the idea of retreating to a wild, unnavigable place where no one can follow you—because you’ll be submerged up to your eyeballs.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In the northern part of the district, the waterfront is polluted by ships.
    — Jemma Stephenson, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of polluted
Adjective
  • The land, unfenced, abuts a bald blackened hillside that must be public land.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 28 Aug. 2025
Definition of blackened
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
Definition of dirtied
Verb
  • Apparently, Griffith now suspected that the Mesmers had poisoned Briswalter, and planned to poison him next.
    — Andrew Coletti, Popular Science, 14 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Definition of poisoned
Adjective
  • The state was apportioned a bare 300,000 acre-feet a year in 1928, when Las Vegas was merely a dusty outpost miles from the Hoover Dam construction site.
    — Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026
  • On July 2, 2025, a burst with energy equivalent to 1,000 suns blazing for 10 billion years lit up Fermi’s detectors, heading from a dusty galaxy about eight billion light-years from Earth.
    — Robin George Andrews, Scientific American, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of dusty
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
Definition of sullied

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Cite this Entry

“Befouled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befouled. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

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