DictionaryAI

slur

SaySLUR/slɜɹ/UK/slɜː/

Pluralslurs

Verbslurs, slurring, slurred

11 meanings of slur

Practice

  1. 1
    hate wordnouncountable
    A very hurtful word used to insult a whole group of people, such as people of one race.

    The coach benched a player for shouting a slur at the other team.

    Our school has a rule against using slurs of any kind.

    UsageSay a racial slur. People use slurs.

    Similarepithet

    Note
  2. 2
    speak unclearlyverbtransitive
    To say words in an unclear way so that they run together.

    He was so tired that he started to slur his words.

    The medicine made her slur her speech for an hour.

    UsageSay someone slurs their words.

    Similarmumble, mutter, garble

    Oppositeenunciate, articulate

    Note
  3. 3
    unclear speechnouncountable
    A way of talking where the words run together and are hard to understand.

    After three drinks, he spoke with a slur.

    There was a slight slur in her voice when she first woke up.

    UsageSay there was a slur in his speech.

  4. 4
    rude remarknouncountable
    A rude or unfair remark that insults someone or harms their good name.

    She asked the newspaper to take back its slur against her family.

    The mayor called the newspaper story a slur on his good name.

    UsageSay a slur on someone's name.

    Similarinsult, slight, smear, aspersion, affront

    Oppositecompliment

    Note
  5. 5
    insult someoneverbtransitive
    To say insulting things about someone or harm their good name.

    He slurred his rival as a cheat in front of everyone.

    It is unfair to slur a whole town because of one bad driver.

    UsageSay someone slurred a rival as a cheat.

    Similarsmear, disparage, malign, denigrate, slander

    Oppositepraise

  6. 6
    curved line (music)nouncountable
    In music, a curved line over notes that means play them smoothly together, or the notes played like this.

    The teacher pointed to the slur over the last four notes.

    There are slurs all over this page of the music.

    UsageA tie is different: it joins two notes of the same pitch.

    Note
  7. 7
    join notesverbtransitive
    To play music notes smoothly, without a break between them.

    Slur these two notes together.

    She slurred the notes so the tune sounded soft and smooth.

    Oppositetongue

    Note

Practice

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Origin

From an old English word for “thin mud.”

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  • Slur derives from an earlier English word meaning “thin mud”: Middle English sloor. en.wiktionary.org