1
as in to stain
to make dirty
unsightly mud and slush befouls the family car every winter
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to pollute
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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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of befoul
Hundreds of women will dress up against the cold on a gray November day to protest a pipeline that could befoul their water and will almost certainly lead to the final befouling of the planet.
—
Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2022
But dip even the most blood-befouled corset in a tub of warm water and swish, swish, swish — Lucy’s lace nightgown, or a doctor’s lab coat — is restored to its original snowy sheen.
—Mary Carole McCauley, baltimoresun.com, 24 Oct. 2019
The poison of authoritarianism is as pervasive as the cloud of sulfur dioxide that befouled the air in East Germany.
—Kyle Smith, National Review, 26 Feb. 2020
Michael Kuta, 26, of the 700 block of South Addison Avenue, Villa Park, was cited for disorderly conduct – befouling property at 1:15 a.m. Nov. 28 after he was observed urinating on bushes in the 100 block of South York Street.
—Graydon Megan, chicagotribune.com, 6 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for befoul
Washington Post, 20 Apr. 2022
But dip even the most blood-befouled corset in a tub of warm water and swish, swish, swish — Lucy’s lace nightgown, or a doctor’s lab coat — is restored to its original snowy sheen.
—Mary Carole McCauley, baltimoresun.com, 24 Oct. 2019
The poison of authoritarianism is as pervasive as the cloud of sulfur dioxide that befouled the air in East Germany.
—Kyle Smith, National Review, 26 Feb. 2020
Michael Kuta, 26, of the 700 block of South Addison Avenue, Villa Park, was cited for disorderly conduct – befouling property at 1:15 a.m. Nov. 28 after he was observed urinating on bushes in the 100 block of South York Street.
—Graydon Megan, chicagotribune.com, 6 Dec. 2019
See All Example Sentences for befoul
Recent Examples of Synonyms for befoul
Verb
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Its players are turncoats whose legacies are forever stained.—
Greg Cote,
Miami Herald,
6 Apr. 2025
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Be careful and don’t use it every wash because these products can stain your hair with a pink or lavender tint.—
Jennifer Hussein,
Allure,
4 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Seventy percent of the beaches in Gaza are polluted with sewage because of the lack of electricity, preventing them from treating wastewater.—
Troy Aidan Sambajon,
Christian Science Monitor,
1 Apr. 2025
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And while housing grows increasingly unaffordable, homeless camps have exploded, spilling into city parks, crowding sidewalks, and polluting sensitive waterways, despite unprecedented public spending.—
Angela Hart,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Unlike a total solar eclipse, when the disk of the sun is completely blackened, an eclipsed moon does not vanish completely from the sky.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
TIME,
11 Mar. 2025
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But the negro resents and utterly repudiates the effort to blacken his good name by asserting that assaults upon women are peculiar to his race.—
Liz Tracey,
JSTOR Daily,
21 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Grease dirtied the handles of the ovens, the microwave ovens and the coolers.—
David J. Neal,
Miami Herald,
14 Feb. 2025
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Instead of dirtying a larger pot for your supporting dishes, this quaint cooker will come in handy for quick (or slower simmering) concoctions while matching your kitchen atmosphere.—
Sophia Beams,
Better Homes & Gardens,
14 Jan. 2025
Verb
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With Taylor sullied publicly and a leadership void atop the department, Luck became the face of Stanford athletics and the sole possessor of the authority necessary to salvage the football program.—
Jon Wilner,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2025
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However, his legacy has been sullied by decades of financial disputes and a barrage lawsuits from artists and creditors.—
Daniel Cassady,
ARTnews.com,
14 Jan. 2025
Verb
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Failing to do so would besmirch Puntland’s reputation as a bastion of stability within a troubled country.—
Vanda Felbab-Brown,
Foreign Affairs,
15 June 2017
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Other attempts to besmirch her also fell short — as in the 2024 election, when former Sen. Randolph Bracy launched an ugly attempt to oust her from the District 15 Senate seat.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
Orlando Sentinel,
25 Feb. 2025
Verb
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Those violations included mop/wastewater dumped on the ground, larvae inside of a soda gun and a cutting board in front of a reach-in cooler soiled with food debris.—
Garfield Hylton,
The Orlando Sentinel,
27 Mar. 2025
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Maria Ressa, a journalist and co-founder of one of the Philippines’ top news outlets, came under constant attack for her work documenting the human rights abuses that soiled Mr. Duterte’s presidency.—
Erika Page,
The Christian Science Monitor,
14 Mar. 2025
Verb
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There are other snafus: The calligraphy on the place-setting cards is unreadable, and someone described as an energy medium has tried to muck around with the dining room’s musty feng shui.—
Tom Gliatto,
People.com,
20 Mar. 2025
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Randle's bully ball and inattentive defense are mucking everything up.—
Jon Krawczynski,
The Athletic,
7 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Befoul.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befoul. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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