Earnings Per Share - Computations of Earnings (Loss) per Common Share (Detail) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Millions, $ in Millions	3 Months Ended									12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	[1]	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic and Diluted, by Common Class [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations, net of tax	$ 128.0	$ 129.6	$ 140.3	$ 77.4	$ 104.4	$ 121.9	$ 125.1	$ 61.0		$ 475.3	$ 412.4	$ 306.5
Less: Noncontrolling interests										0.1		0.5
Income from continuing operations for EPS										475.2	412.4	306.0
Income (loss) from discontinued operations										(2.6)	0.8	9.0
NET INCOME ATTRIBUTABLE TO FORTUNE BRANDS										$ 472.6	$ 413.2	$ 315.0
Basic
Continuing operations	$ 0.84	$ 0.84	$ 0.91	$ 0.50	$ 0.68	$ 0.79	$ 0.82	$ 0.39		$ 3.10	$ 2.67	$ 1.92
Discontinued operations			(0.02)		(0.01)	0.01				(0.02)	0.01	0.05
Net income attributable to Fortune Brands common stockholders	0.84	0.84	0.89	0.50	0.67	0.80	0.82	0.39		3.08	2.68	1.97
Diluted
Continuing operations	0.83	0.83	0.90	0.50	0.67	0.77	0.80	0.38		3.05	2.61	1.88
Discontinued operations			(0.02)		(0.01)	0.01				(0.02)	0.01	0.05
Net income attributable to Fortune Brands common stockholders	$ 0.83	$ 0.83	$ 0.88	$ 0.50	$ 0.66	$ 0.78	$ 0.80	$ 0.38		$ 3.03	$ 2.62	$ 1.93
Basic average shares outstanding										153.2	154.3	159.5
Stock-based awards										2.6	3.5	3.5
Diluted average shares outstanding										155.8	157.8	163.0
Antidilutive stock-based awards excluded from weighted-average number of shares outstanding for diluted earnings per share										0.5	0.5	0.7

[1] Amounts revised to reflect adoption of ASU 2016-09 "Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting."