Filth
/fɪlθ/
Definitions
2 meaningsDisgusting dirt, waste, or unpleasant matter.
/fɪlθ/
Gross dirt or matter
The dog rolled in filth and then jumped on the clean sofa.
💡 Simply: Filth is like really, really gross dirt or yucky stuff that you definitely don't want to touch or be around. Like, imagine a garbage can overflowing with old food – that's filth!
👶 For kids: Yucky, dirty stuff that is gross.
More Examples
The sanitation workers had to deal with the city's filth.
How It's Used
"The streets were covered in filth after the festival."
"He was disgusted by the filth in the neglected apartment."
Morally offensive or obscene language, ideas, or behavior.
/fɪlθ/
Moral impurity; obscenity
The protestors decried the filth of the political campaign.
💡 Simply: Sometimes, filth means bad words or actions that are really shocking or offensive. Like, when someone says or does something that's super rude and against what's considered right and proper, that's a kind of filth.
👶 For kids: Something mean or not nice that people do or say.
More Examples
The newspaper refused to print the filth of the author's new book.
How It's Used
"The novel was criticized for its depiction of moral filth."
"He railed against the moral filth he saw in society."
Idioms & expressions
to wallow in filth
To indulge in something that is morally or physically disgusting.
"The politician continued to wallow in the filth of corruption."
From Old English *fylþ* (akin to *fūl* 'foul'), Proto-Germanic *fulithō*, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pu- 'to rot, stink'.
Appears in Old English texts, often used to describe physical uncleanness and later moral degradation.
Memory tip
Think of a *filter* that removes the filth, leaving clean water.