foment
UK/fəʊˈmɛnt//foʊˈmɛnt/
foment verb: to incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
Verb
foment (third-person singular simple present foments, present participle fomenting, simple past and past participle fomented)
- To incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
- He was arrested for fomenting a riot; after all, it's bad enough being in a riot but starting one is much worse.
- Foreign governments have tried to foment unrest.
- Synonyms:
- bring about, provoke, abet, actuate, goose, fuel, light a fire under, send, sting, cheer
- To apply a poultice to; to bathe with a cloth or sponge.
- Sties in the eye are irritating and disfiguring. Foment with warm water; at night apply a bread-and-milk poultice.1876, Eliza Bisbee Duffey, Our Behaviour: A Manual of Etiquette and Dress of the Best American Society, Philadelphia
- The maid had entered with us, and began once more to foment the bruise upon her mistress's brow.1904, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Adventure of the Abbey Grange, Norton, published 2005, page 1178
Noun
foment (plural foments)
- Fomentation.
- He came in no conciliatory mood, and the foment was kept up.1892, Julian Ralph, On Canada's Frontier
foment meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
foment in Hindi
- to foment
- लेसना lesnā
foment in Tamil
- ஒத்தடம்
foment in Urdu
- سینکنا
foment in Bengali
- উসকে দেওয়া, প্ররোচিত করা
More languagesFewer languages
- foment in Telugu
- పొంగు poṅgu
- foment in Malayalam
- ഉത്തേജിപ്പിക്കുക, ഒത്തണം വയ്ക്കുക, ആവിപിടിക്കുക, സ്വേദനം ചെയ്യുക
- foment in Kannada
- ಕಾವು ಕೊಡು, ಶಾಖ ಕೊಡು, ಒತ್ತು, ಉತ್ತೇಜಿಸು
- foment in Odia
- ସେକିବା sekibā
- foment in Sanskrit
- स्वेदयति svedayati, लेपयति lepáyati
Examples of foment in a sentence
- The factor which had caused the militant five per cent to relax awhile from fomenting discord was the satellites.1951, John Wyndham, The Day of the Triffids, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, published 1954, page 28:
- Blogjects always have some form of agency — they can foment action and participate; they have an assertive voice within the social web.2006 March 14, Roland Piquepaille, “The new world of 'blogjects'”, in ZDNET, archived from the original on 26 Sep 2023:
- Boris Johnson and senior Conservative ministers have vigorously condemned the violence in Washington, but have largely steered clear of condemning Trump for fomenting it.2021 January 7, Peter Walker, “Tories urged to suspend politicians who likened US violence to anti-Brexit protests”, in The Guardian:
- “Indignation foments extreme behaviour,” the director says of a film he believes will leave audiences wondering: “How far will people go as a result of their anger?”2023 September 11, Tom Phillips, “‘A Brazilian 9/11’: film tells little-known story of failed 1988 hijacking”, in The Guardian:
Synonyms of foment
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of foment
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | foments |
| present participle | fomenting |
| past participle | fomented |
| past | fomented |
| Noun | |
| plural | foments |
Origin of foment
From Middle English fomenten, a borrowing from Old French fomenter, from Late Latin fōmentāre, from Latin fōmentum (“lotion”), from fovēre (“heat, cherish”).
Words formed from foment
Words that rhyme with foment
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- repent
- ascent
- rent
- resent
- scent
- absent
- augment
- cement
- content
- extent
- fragment
- lent
- prevent
- anent
- consent
- dent
- dissent
- percent
- relent
- spent
- Tashkent
- tent
- accent
- circumvent
- convent
- discontent
- intent
- invent
- went
- %
- assent
- dement
- ferment
- gent
- Gwent
- incent
- lament
- malcontent
- reinvent
- stent
- underrepresent
- attent
- big tent
- blent
- detent
- diapertent
- djent
- ent
Questions about foment
- What does foment mean?
- Foment means to incite or cause troublesome acts; to encourage; to instigate.
- What is foment in Hindi?
- Foment in Hindi is लेसना (lesnā). See Foment meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use foment in a sentence?
- The factor which had caused the militant five per cent to relax awhile from fomenting discord was the satellites.
- What part of speech is foment?
- Foment can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce foment?
- Foment is pronounced /fəʊˈmɛnt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of foment?
- The past tense of foment is fomented.
Words near foment in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: foment (page history and authors); लेसना (Hindi) (page history and authors); foment (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); foment (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); foment (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); పొంగు (Telugu) (page history and authors); foment (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); foment (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ସେକିବା (Odia) (page history and authors); लेपयति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-foment.ogg.
Cite this entry: “foment.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/foment. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.