1
as in staining
to make dirty
unsightly mud and slush befouls the family car every winter
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in polluting
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for befouling
Verb
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As those natural oils break down, the wood may become dry, dull, and more prone to cracking or staining.—
Jessica Safavimehr,
Southern Living,
7 Feb. 2026 -
Another option is to use a straw for drinking the liquid, which can help bypass the teeth and prevent staining.—
BestReviews,
Mercury News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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View gallery - 4 images Electric passenger ferries offer a promising alternative to polluting fossil-fuel guzzlers given the relatively short hops these vessels need to make per trip.—
Stefan Ionescu
February 04,
New Atlas,
4 Feb. 2026
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Due to these conditions, the region is highly reliant on expensive and polluting diesel fuel transported by truck, plane, or barge.—
Chris Young,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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High-Heat-Safe Alternatives While enameled cast-iron cookware is excellent to use for braising, roasting, baking, or gentle stovetop cooking, certain high heat applications like searing steak or blackening fish are best done in other types of pans, like traditional cast iron or stainless steel.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
10 Sep. 2025
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Each footstep sent up clouds of dust and ash, coating everything, including my mouth and teeth, in fine grit, blackening my snot and saliva.—
River Selby
August 25,
Literary Hub,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Then Lord Blackwood tries to enact a plan that involves poisoning much of Parliament, and he’s finally thwarted in a third-act fight sequence that plays out on top of London’s Tower Bridge, then in construction.—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
4 Feb. 2026
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The document highlighted as an example the case of a Colorado dentist convicted of first-degree murder last year after gradually poisoning his wife with a mix of arsenic, cyanide and tetrahydrozoline, the latter a medication commonly found in over-the-counter eye drops.—
Aaron Katersky,
ABC News,
3 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Keep them in reserve as a sleep sock to ward off icy toes and prevent sweat and skin oils from dirtying your down sleeping bag.—
Adam Roy,
Outside,
28 Dec. 2025
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Amazon shoppers are also going after this top-selling nonstick frying pan that’s great for eggs, chicken breasts, and other hard-to-flip foods, as well as this immersion blender that can churn soups and sauces into a creamy texture without dirtying another vessel.—
Clara McMahon,
PEOPLE,
28 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The problem is, people were drinking a lot of bad ones, sullying their opinion of the drink.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
7 Feb. 2026
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The scale of the fraud in Minnesota dwarfs the roughly $100 million welfare scandal that rocked Mississippi from 2016 to 2019, embroiling former NFL quarterback Brett Favre in a civil lawsuit and sullying the state’s reputation for oversight.—
The Denver Post Editorial Board,
Denver Post,
20 Jan. 2026
Verb
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On TikTok, as The Washington Post has reported, some creators are making $5,000 a month using AI tools to write scripts and animate extremely dumb viral videos where old men talk about soiling themselves.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Kelly believes a book like this hasn’t been written before because people weren’t ready to hear the truth – as though acknowledging these famous people’s complete life experiences would be besmirching their legacies.—
Tiney Ricciardi,
Denver Post,
12 Jan. 2026
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Famously, the British press conspired to draw the dramatist’s name through the mud, besmirching his literary legacy for generations to follow.—
Brittany Allen,
Literary Hub,
20 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Befouling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befouling. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.
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