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Faulty vs Foul - What's the difference?

faulty | foul | Related terms |

In obsolete terms the difference between faulty and foul

is that faulty is at fault, to blame; guilty while foul is ugly; homely; poor.

As adjectives the difference between faulty and foul

is that faulty is having or displaying faults; not perfect; not adequate or acceptable while foul is covered with, or containing unclean matter; polluted; nasty; defiled.

As a verb foul is

to make dirty.

As a noun foul is

a breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; as, for example, foot-tripping in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball.

faulty

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Having or displaying faults; not perfect; not adequate or acceptable.
    • They replaced the faulty wiring and it has worked fine ever since.
    I don't think you can infer that from the premise. It's a faulty argument.
  • (obsolete) At fault, to blame; guilty.
  • * 1590 , Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene , II.iv:
    • Her faultie Handmayd, which that bale did breede, / Confest, how Philemon her wrought to chaunge her weede.

    Usage notes

    * Nouns to which "faulty" is often applied: goods, equipment, product, wiring, construction, memory, thinking, design, hardware, software, unit, part, component, assumption, reasoning, premise, gene, operation, technique, merchandise, circuit, code, analysis, posture, machine, method, habit, process, communication.

    Antonyms

    * faultless

    Derived terms

    * faultiness

    foul

    English

    (Webster 1913)

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl), from (etyl) . More at (l).

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Covered with, or containing unclean matter; polluted; nasty; defiled
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=29, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Unspontaneous combustion , passage=Since the mid-1980s, when Indonesia first began to clear its bountiful forests on an industrial scale in favour of lucrative palm-oil plantations, “haze” has become an almost annual occurrence in South-East Asia. The cheapest way to clear logged woodland is to burn it, producing an acrid cloud of foul white smoke that, carried by the wind, can cover hundreds, or even thousands, of square miles.}}
  • obscene or profane; abusive.
  • Hateful; detestable; unpleasant
  • * Milton
    • Who first seduced them to that foul revolt?
  • Loathsome; disgusting; as, a foul disease.
  • (obsolete) Ugly; homely; poor.
  • * Shakespeare
    • Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares.
  • Not favorable; unpropitious; not fair or advantageous; as, a foul wind; a foul road; cloudy or rainy; stormy; not fair; -- said of the weather, sky, etc.
  • * Shakespeare
    • So foul a sky clears not without a storm.
  • Not conforming to the established rules and customs of a game, conflict, test, etc.; unfair; dishonest; dishonorable; cheating.
  • (nautical) Having freedom of motion interfered with by collision or entanglement; entangled; - opposed to clear; as, a rope or cable may get foul while paying it out.
  • (baseball) Outside of the base lines; in foul territory.
    • Usage notes
    * Nouns to which "foul" is often applied: play, ball, language, breath, smell, odor, water, weather, deed.
    Synonyms
    * shameful; odious; wretched
    Derived terms
    * afoul * befoul * fall foul * nonfoul * nonfouling

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make dirty.
    • to foul the face or hands with mire
    She's fouled her diaper.
  • To besmirch.
    • He's fouled his reputation.
  • To clog or obstruct.
    • The hair has fouled the drain.
  • (nautical) To entangle.
    • The kelp has fouled the prop.
  • (basketball) To make contact with an opposing player in order to gain advantage.
    • Smith fouled him hard.
  • (baseball) To hit outside of the baselines.
    • Jones fouled the ball off the facing of the upper deck.
  • To become clogged.
    • ''The drain fouled .
  • To become entangled.
    • The prop fouled on the kelp.
  • (basketball) To commit a foul.
    • Smith fouled within the first minute of the quarter.
  • (baseball) To hit a ball outside of the baselines.
    • Jones fouled for strike one.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (sports) A breach of the rules of a game, especially one involving inappropriate contact with an opposing player in order to gain an advantage; as, for example, foot-tripping in soccer, or contact of any kind in basketball.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=December 10 , author=Arindam Rej , title=Norwich 4 - 2 Newcastle , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=A second Norwich goal in four minutes arrived after some dire Newcastle defending. Gosling gave the ball away with a sloppy back-pass, allowing Crofts to curl in a cross that the unmarked Morison powered in with a firm, 12-yard header.
    Gosling's plight worsened when he was soon shown a red card for a foul on Martin.}}
  • (bowling) A (usually accidental) contact between a bowler and the lane before the bowler has released the ball.
  • (baseball) A foul ball, a ball which has been hit outside of the base lines.
    • Jones hit a foul up over the screen.

    External links

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