Crossword Genius

One's neither civil nor polite, but rude or foul! (4-6,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

four-letter word

'foul' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot see how one could define the other.

'one's neither civil nor polite but rude or' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'or' is within the answer.
'one' could be 'o' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'o' is located in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

(Another definition for four-letter word that I've seen is " profanity".)

I've seen this clue in The Times.
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