foul play

F f

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [foul pley]
- /faʊl pleɪ/
- /faʊl pleɪ/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [foul pley]
- /faʊl pleɪ/

Definitions of foul play words

noun foul play any treacherous or unfair dealing, especially involving murder: We feared that he had met with foul play. 1
noun foul play unfair conduct in a game. 1
noun foul play illegal act 1
uncountable noun foul play Foul play is criminal violence or activity that results in a person's death. 0
uncountable noun foul play Foul play is unfair or dishonest behaviour, especially during a sports game. 0
noun foul play unfair or treacherous conduct esp with violence 0

See all 11 definitions of foul play

Information block about the term

Origin of foul play

First appearance:

before 1600

One of the 39% oldest English words

First recorded in 1600-10

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Foul play

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Foul play

foul play popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 46% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

According to our data about 54% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

foul play usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for foul play

noun foul play

fraud — deceit, trickery, sharp practice, or breach of confidence, perpetrated for profit or to gain some unfair or dishonest advantage.
corruption — Corruption is dishonesty and illegal behaviour by people in positions of authority or power.
crime — A crime is an illegal action or activity for which a person can be punished by law.
dirty work — disagreeable, often tedious tasks.
felony — an offense, as murder or burglary, of graver character than those called misdemeanors, especially those commonly punished in the U.S. by imprisonment for more than a year.

All 11 Synonyms of foul play