Etymology From Middle English filth, from Old English fȳlþu, from Proto-West Germanic *fūliþu, equivalent to foul + -th (abstract nominal suffix).
1
Usually Dirt; foul matter; that which soils or defiles.
Before we start cooking we need to clean up the filth in this kitchen.
2
Usually Smut; that which sullies or defiles the moral character; corruption; pollution.
He spends all his time watching filth on pornographic websites.
Novv all theſe Precepts do not only tend to beget in us ſuch vertues and diſpoſitions, as are reaſonable and ſuitable to our nature, and every vvay for our temporal convenience and advantage; but ſuch, as do likevviſe exceedingly diſpoſe us to piety and religion, by purifying our ſouls from the droſs and filth of ſenſual delights.1671, John Tillotson, “Phil[ippians] iij. 8.”, in Sermons Preach’d upon Several Occasions, London: […] A[nne] M[axwell] for Sa[muel] Gellibrand, […], →OCLC, pages 190–191:
I think you're scum, I think you're filth. And as far as Elaine's concerned you're to get her out of your filthy mind right now.1963, Charles Webb, The Graduate:
They were filth, utter filth. I mean, and this tops it. She even bought the video of her sister dying, or at least the sex act that killed her.2011, Jeremy Robert Hall, Summer Days: