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
Human attention is presented as an endangered public resource, befouled by the attention economy, tech companies, virtual workplaces, Slack notifications.
—
Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023
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
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
Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023
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
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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If Bonhoeffer’s example is used to justify more far-right Christian violence in America, that would be another tragedy — and a cruel irony that would stain the legacy of a man who gave up everything to confront a tyrant.—
John Blake,
CNN Money,
13 Apr. 2025
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Pérez's manager, Enrique Paulino, spoke to reporters at the scene, his shirt stained with blood.—
Gordon G. Chang,
MSNBC Newsweek,
8 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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For example, a small non-shedding dog that rarely goes outside won't dirty a bed nearly as fast as a large labarador that plays outside daily.—
Halee Miller Van Ryswyk,
Better Homes & Gardens,
7 Apr. 2025
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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
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
-
Their reputations were besmirched.—
The Editors,
National Review,
17 Dec. 2024
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Images illustrating the reality versus carefully edited Instagram selfies have somewhat besmirched Santorini’s romantic reputation of late.—
Helen Iatrou,
AFAR Media,
16 Dec. 2024
Verb
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If, during the dinner, the tablecloth is spotted or soiled, a fresh napkin is immediately placed over it.—
John Mariani,
Forbes.com,
15 Apr. 2025
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The source said the hotel staff cleaned the room after Lamb checked out and found bloodied and soiled sheets and towels in yard waste bags.—
Raja Krishnamoorthi,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Even though this team isn't good at shooting threes, their defense mucks everything up enough to win games.—
Mark Davis,
Newsweek,
15 Mar. 2025
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The Mountaineers found some success with the full court press in the third quarter and used the ball pressure to muck the game up.—
Steven Johnson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Befoul.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befoul. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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