Standard Lemma guide

filth

noun · 10 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /fɪlθ/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪlθ
  • CMU ARPABET: F IH1 L TH Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Dirt; foul matter; that which soils or defiles.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • Before we start cooking we need to clean up the filth in this kitchen.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Smut; that which sullies or defiles the moral character; corruption; pollution.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Examples

  • He spends all his time watching filth on pornographic websites.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A vile or disgusting person.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: derogatory, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Weeds growing on pasture land.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, dated, uncountable, usually

Topics: agriculture, business, lifestyle

Examples

  • Grampa remembers when he had to cut filth with a scythe.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

The police.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang, uncountable

Examples

  • We were in the middle of stashing the money when the filth arrived.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

Acronym of failed in London, try Hongkong.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: UK, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, derogatory

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

an offensive or indecent word or phrase

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: obscenity, smut, vulgarism, dirty word

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: profanity

Narrower terms: bawdry, bawdy, scatology

8

noun

Meaning 8

a state characterized by foul or disgusting dirt and refuse

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: filthiness, foulness, nastiness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: unsanitariness

9

noun

Meaning 9

the state of being covered with unclean things

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dirt, grime, soil, stain, grease, grunge

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: dirtiness, uncleanness

10

noun

Meaning 10

any substance considered disgustingly foul or unpleasant

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: crud, skank

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: waste, waste material, waste matter, waste product

History

Etymology

From Middle English filth, from Old English fȳlþu, from Proto-West Germanic *fūliþu, equivalent to foul + -th (abstract nominal suffix).

Across languages

Translations

120 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: papastërti — dirt
  • Albanian: fëlliqësi — dirt
  • Arabic: قَذَارَة (qaḏāra) — dirt
  • Armenian: կեղտ (keġt) — dirt
  • Old Armenian: կեղտ (kełt) — dirt
  • Old Armenian: գայռ (gayṙ) — dirt
  • Azerbaijani: kir — dirt
  • Azerbaijani: çirk — dirt
  • Azerbaijani: palçıq — dirt
  • Azerbaijani: zığ — dirt
  • Azerbaijani: çirkab — dirt
  • Belarusian: бруд (brud) — dirt
  • Belarusian: гразь (hrazʹ) — dirt
  • Bulgarian: мръсоти́я (mrǎsotíja) — dirt
  • Burmese: အညစ်အကြေး (a.nyaca.kre:) — dirt
  • Catalan: immundícia — dirt
  • Catalan: porqueria — dirt
  • Chinese Mandarin: 污垢 (wūgòu) — dirt
  • Chinese Mandarin: 穢物 /秽物 (huìwù) — dirt
  • Chinese Mandarin: 污 (wū) — dirt
  • Czech: špína — dirt
  • Esperanto: malpuraĵo — dirt
  • Estonian: mustus — dirt
  • Finnish: lika — dirt
  • French: crasse — dirt
  • French: saleté — dirt
  • French: boue — dirt
  • Galician: lixo — dirt
  • Galician: sucidade — dirt
  • Galician: porcallada — dirt
  • Georgian: ჭუჭყი (č̣uč̣q̇i) — dirt
  • German: Schmutz — dirt
  • German: Dreck — dirt
  • Greek: ακαθαρσία (akatharsía) — dirt
  • Ancient Greek: ῥύπος (rhúpos) — dirt
  • Ancient Greek: ῤυπαρία (ruparía) — dirt
  • Hebrew: לִכלוּך (likhlúkh) — dirt
  • Hindi: गंदगी (gandgī) — dirt
  • Hindi: गंद (gand) — dirt
  • Hungarian: piszok — dirt
  • Hungarian: mocsok — dirt
  • Ingrian: lika — dirt
  • Ingrian: riima — dirt
  • Irish: garr — dirt
  • Irish: mosar — dirt
  • Italian: sporcizia — dirt
  • Italian: sporco — dirt
  • Japanese: 泥 (doro) — dirt
  • Japanese: 汚物 (obutsu) — dirt
  • Kazakh: былғаныш (bylğanyş) — dirt
  • Kazakh: лас (las) — dirt
  • Khmer: ភាពកខ្វក់ (phiəp kɑkvɑk) — dirt
  • Korean: 오물 (omul) — dirt
  • Kyrgyz: кир (kir) — dirt
  • Lao: ມົນທິນ — dirt
  • Latin: sordēs — dirt
  • Latin: paedor — dirt
  • Macedonian: нечистотија (nečistotija) — dirt
  • Māori: kerakera — dirt
  • Māori: hawahawa — dirt
  • Māori: karaweta — dirt
  • Māori: paraweta — dirt
  • Mongolian: тоос (toos) — dirt
  • Mongolian: хир (xir) — dirt
  • Navajo: chin — dirt
  • Navajo: ih — dirt
  • Norwegian Bokmål: skitt — dirt
  • Occitan: immondícia — dirt
  • Old English: fylþ — dirt
  • Iranian Persian: چِرْک (čerk) — dirt
  • Polish: brud — dirt
  • Portuguese: sujeira — dirt
  • Portuguese: imundície — dirt
  • Romanian: murdărie — dirt
  • Russian: грязь (grjazʹ) — dirt
  • Russian: нечистота́ (nečistotá) — dirt
  • Serbo-Croatian: прља́вштина — dirt
  • Serbo-Croatian: нечисто̀ћа — dirt
  • Serbo-Croatian: prljávština — dirt
  • Serbo-Croatian: nečistòća — dirt
  • Sicilian: lurdìa — dirt
  • Slovak: špina — dirt
  • Slovene: umazanija — dirt
  • Spanish: mugre — dirt
  • Spanish: porquería — dirt
  • Spanish: inmundicia — dirt
  • Spanish: bascosidad — dirt
  • Spanish: bahorrina — dirt
  • Spanish: sarama — dirt
  • Spanish: shuquía — dirt
  • Spanish: shuquencia — dirt
  • Spanish: fosquera — dirt
  • Spanish: suciedad — dirt
  • Swedish: smuts — dirt
  • Swedish: lort — dirt
  • Tajik: лой (loy) — dirt
  • Tajik: гил (gil) — dirt
  • Tajik: лоиқа (loyiqa) — dirt
  • Tajik: чирк (čirk) — dirt
  • Tajik: қарқ (qarq) — dirt
  • Telugu: మురికి (muriki) — dirt
  • Thai: สิ่งปฏิกูล (sìng-bpà-dtì-guun) — dirt
  • Tocharian B: krāke — dirt
  • Tocharian B: Tocharian B: tettinor — dirt
  • Turkish: pislik — dirt
  • Turkish: kir — dirt
  • Ottoman Turkish: كیر (kir) — dirt
  • Ottoman Turkish: پیسلك (pislik) — dirt
  • Ottoman Turkish: چرك (çirk) — dirt
  • Turkmen: hapalyk — dirt
  • Turkmen: kir — dirt
  • Ukrainian: бруд (brud) — dirt
  • Urdu: گَنْدَگی (gandagī) — dirt
  • Urdu: گَنْد (gand) — dirt
  • Uzbek: balchiq — dirt
  • Uzbek: loy — dirt
  • Uzbek: botqoq — dirt
  • Uzbek: kir — dirt
  • Vietnamese: rác rưởi — dirt
  • Vietnamese: rác bẩn — dirt