DictionaryAI

slur

SaySLUR/slɜɹ/UK/slɜː/

Pluralslurs

Verbslurs, slurring, slurred

11 meanings of slur

Practice

  1. 1
    hate wordnouncountable
    A deeply offensive, socially unacceptable word aimed at a group of people, such as an ethnic group or people of a particular sexual orientation.

    The comedian apologized after a clip surfaced of him using a racial slur on stage.

    Moderators remove posts containing slurs aimed at gay and transgender users.

    UsageOften with a word naming the target: racial slur, homophobic slur. People use or hurl a slur.

    Similarepithet

    Note

    News reports can name a racial slur without printing it. Whether a particular word counts as one can itself be argued over, as when Elon Musk declared in 2023 that cis is a slur.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  2. 2
    speak unclearlyverbtransitive
    To pronounce words or sounds indistinctly, running them together.

    By midnight the best man was slurring his toast, and the guests began to wince.

    Patients who suddenly slur their speech should be checked for a stroke.

    UsageThe object is usually speech or words: slurs his speech, slurs his words.

    Similarmumble, mutter, garble

    Oppositeenunciate, articulate

    Note

    The usual objects are speech, words and syllables (he slurs his speech when he is drunk), and slurred speech is a symptom doctors watch for, from drink to the manganese poisoning of miners. What is a fault in a speaker is a skill in a player: the musician's slur joins notes on purpose.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Drinking alcohol can cause slurred speech, which is a medically recognized symptom. nhs.uk
    • Manganese poisoning can cause slurred speech. jamanetwork.com
    • Manganese poisoning occurs among miners. atsdr.cdc.gov
    • A musical slur directs a player to connect notes deliberately. en.wikipedia.org
  3. 3
    unclear speechnouncountable
    A running together of words; speech that is poorly articulated.

    The doctor noticed a faint slur in the patient's speech and ordered a scan.

    He had been drinking, but there was no slur in his speech as he read the statement.

    UsageOften a slur in someone's speech.

  4. 4
    rude remarknouncountable
    An insulting or disparaging remark or suggestion, especially one that damages a person's reputation.

    Under his breath he added a slur about her accent, just loud enough to be heard.

    She shrugged off his slur that she had only got the job through her father, and went on with the lesson.

    UsageUsed with on or against: a slur on her character, a slur against him.

    Similarinsult, slight, smear, aspersion, affront

    Oppositecompliment

    Note

    The word starts in mud: Middle English sloor meant thin or fluid mud, and Middle Low German had a cousin, sluren, to trail in mud, so an insult is a smear thrown at someone.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Slur derives from Middle English sloor, meaning thin or fluid mud. en.wiktionary.org
    • Middle Low German sluren, meaning to trail in mud, is cognate with slur. en.wiktionary.org
  5. 5
    insult someoneverbtransitive
    To make insulting or damaging remarks about someone or something, or to tarnish a reputation.

    Critics slurred the young composer as a mere imitator of his teacher.

    Campaign ads that slur an opponent's family rarely win votes.

    UsageOften with as: slurred him as an imitator.

    Similarsmear, disparage, malign, denigrate, slander

    Oppositepraise

  6. 6
    curved line (music)nouncountable
    In music, a curved line over or under two or more notes showing they are played or sung smoothly without a break; also, a group of notes played this way.

    The editor added a slur over the phrase so the violinists would play it in one bow.

    A long slur arches over the opening bars of the melody.

    UsageNot the same as a tie, which joins two notes of the same pitch into one sound.

    Note

    A slur and a tie are both arcs, which is why the two get confused. A tie joins two notes of the same pitch into one longer sound; a slur spans notes of different pitches and asks for them to be joined smoothly. For string and wind players it often marks notes taken in one bow or one breath.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 5 facts

  7. 7
    join notesverbtransitive
    To play notes legato, connecting them smoothly without separate articulation.

    Violinists slur the passage by playing all six notes in a single bow.

    Unless the score says otherwise, the flutist tongues each note instead of slurring them.

    Oppositetongue

    Note

    Singers slur too: in vocal music, slurred notes share one syllable, and the arc over them shows how far it stretches. On a keyboard, slurring means holding each key until the next one sounds. Thomas Busby's A Dictionary of Music defines slurred notes by that curve drawn over their heads.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts

    • In vocal music, a slur groups notes sung to one syllable and marks its extent. online.berklee.edu
    • Keyboard legato involves holding each key until the next note sounds. organ.byu.edu
    • Thomas Busby's A Dictionary of Music describes a curve over note heads as indicating slurring. en.wiktionary.org

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of slur apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

From Middle English sloor, “thin or fluid mud.” Compare Middle Low German sluren, “to trail in mud,” and dialectal Norwegian sløra, “to be careless.” The sense of an offensive term was influenced by phrases such as racial slur and ethnic slur.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  • Slur derives from Middle English sloor, meaning thin or fluid mud. en.wiktionary.org
  • Middle Low German sluren, meaning to trail in mud, is a related word. en.wiktionary.org
  • Dialectal Norwegian sløra, meaning to be careless, is a related word. en.wiktionary.org
  • The derogatory-term sense was influenced by compounds including racial slur and ethnic slur. en.wiktionary.org