Learn English – Difference between Froth & Foam

word-difference

What is the difference between froth & foam? Is there any difference?

Can someone please give some example sentences to understand the both words better?

Best Answer

They are basically the same thing in regular usage.

The milk in my coffee is frothy. The coffee has froth on the top.

The milk in my coffee is foamy. The coffee has foam on the top.

The ocean was foaming from the storm. or frothy or foamy.

Those are positive in meaning.

The difference resides mostly in technical or medical usage:

  • Spray the foam into the space between the two strips of wood and then press them together.

    Foam there is the form of a particular substance: a foam as opposed to a liquid. So, glue could be in the form of a foam, rather than liquid.

  • The man had been poisoned and froth had come out of his mouth.

    Froth is used to refer to the spittle that comes out of a person's mouth, usually, if they are sick or have been poisoned, for example.

Froth and foam are also used to describe anger: He was so angry he was frothing or foaming at the mouth. [spittle was coming out of his mouth].