Filth

How to spell filth

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce filth

What does filth mean?

1. nounDisgusting dirt or refuse; matter that is repulsively unclean.
2. nounObscene or morally corrupt material, especially writing, images, or talk.

Filth in a sentence

• Years of neglect had left the abandoned kitchen caked in grease and filth.

• The editor refused to print such filth in a family newspaper.

• The inspector closed the restaurant after finding filth behind the cookers.

• Campaigners demanded that the website be cleared of filth.

Where does filth come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

Filth comes straight from the Old English fȳlþ, a noun meaning rottenness or foulness, which was built on the adjective fūl, the ancestor of modern 'foul'. The ending -þ is the same noun-forming suffix that turns 'warm' into 'warmth' and 'long' into 'length', describing the state or quality of being something. Over centuries the vowel softened and the spelling settled, but the close family link to 'foul' is still visible once you know to look for it. From its earliest use the word carried both the literal meaning of physical dirt and a figurative sense of moral corruption, and that double life has stayed with it ever since. Knowing that filth is really the noun of 'foul' is a handy way to remember the short 'i' and the final 'th' rather than reaching for any fancier spelling.

How the word is built

• fūl (foul, dirty)
• -th (noun-forming suffix denoting a state or quality)