Meanings
present singular third person filthens · participle present filthening · participle past filthened · past filthened
- nonstandardraretransitiveTo cover with filth; besmut; besmirch; make filthy.
Rock oil was considered, then, a local nuisance, a malodorous black gunk that floated like a rumor down the creek, filthening whatever it touched: a farmer's overalls, a cow's hide, a child's shoes.
2016, Jennifer Haigh, Heat and Light
Origin
From filth + -en, modelled after healthen, strengthen, lengthen, etc.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
filthen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/filthen
“filthen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/filthen. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “filthen,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/filthen.
Source: filthen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.