blur

American  

[blur] / blɜr /

verb (used with object)

• blurs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• blurred,
  past participle,  past
• blurring
  present participle

1. to obscure or sully (something) by smearing or with a smeary substance.

   The windows were blurred with soot.

2. to obscure by making confused in form or outline; make indistinct.

   The fog blurred the outline of the car.

   Synonyms:

   mask, veil, darken, dim, cloud

3. to dim the perception or susceptibility of; make dull or insensible.

   The blow on the head blurred his senses.

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verb (used without object)

• blurs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• blurred,
  past participle,  past
• blurring
  present participle

1. to become indistinct.

   Everything blurred as she ran.

2. to make blurs.

noun

• blurs
  plural

1. a smudge or smear that obscures.

   a blur of smoke.

2. a blurred condition; indistinctness.

   They could see nothing in the foggy blur.

3. something seen indistinctly.

   The ship appeared as a blur against the horizon.

blur British  

/ blɜː /

verb

1. to make or become vague or less distinct

   heat haze blurs the hills

   education blurs class distinctions

2. to smear or smudge

3. (tr) to make (the judgment, memory, or perception) less clear; dim

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noun

1. something vague, hazy, or indistinct

2. a smear or smudge

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• blurredness
  noun
• blurriness
  noun
• blurred
  adjective
• blurry
  adjective
• unblurred
  adjective
• blurredly
  adverb
• blurringly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• blurs
  plural

Participles

• blurring
  present
• blurred
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• blur
  simple
• blurs
  simple
• have blurred
  perfect
• has blurred
  perfect
• am blurring
  progressive
• are blurring
  progressive
• is blurring
  progressive
• have been blurring
  perfect progressive
• has been blurring
  perfect progressive

Past

• blurred
  simple
• had blurred
  perfect
• was blurring
  progressive
• were blurring
  progressive
• had been blurring
  perfect progressive

Future

• will blur
  simple
• will have blurred
  perfect
• will be blurring
  progressive
• will have been blurring
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of blur

First recorded in 1540–50; akin to blear

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Explanation

To blur is to make or become unfocused and fuzzy. Crying hard can cause your vision to blur until you wipe your tears away. Heavy smog or early morning fog can blur your view of the city, and two candidates' similar views can blur the differences between their political parties. In both cases, things become indistinct and hazy. You can also call the haze itself a blur: "The whole day was just a blur after the exciting news I got in the morning." In the 16th century, blur meant "smear on the surface of writing."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

blur blurs blurred blurring

Their subtle structures are difficult to measure, especially with telescopes on the ground, where turbulence in Earth's atmosphere can blur fine details.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026

The lighting is gauzy and romantic, like the Instagram filter I use to blur out my eye bags, and Marianne’s hair, long and tangled, cascades behind her, her radiant skin nearly glowing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

"It's like happiness, excitement, wonder - it all goes through your mind in a blur because, literally, you're going so fast."

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

But innovation will remain a hard sell so long as users remain entranced by the big blur, where art becomes media, media becomes content, and content becomes time tossed into the wind.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

In a blur, Torak found the little antler-tine medicine horn that had been his mother’s.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

By agreeing to whatever Fielder has in store, Seyfried willingly blurs the lines between art and reality.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

“A carefully curated palette of wood, stone, water, and light blurs the boundaries between indoors and out, creating an atmosphere of serenity and effortless connection to the landscape.”

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

Then there's the added pressure applied by industry and the competing interests of states - whose stake in regulatory controls blurs the lines of accountability and increases bureaucratic hurdles.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

The Polish nobility, for instance, is portrayed as not so noble, which blurs the line between invaders and oppressors; any subtleties to be discerned between the languages spoken were probably swallowed up in the subtitles.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026

My vision blurs and darkens, the water changing in front of my eyes, slowly morphing into a black sky, tiny pinpoints of light appearing.

From "Five Feet Apart" by Rachael Lippincott

Mr. de la Bédoyère notes, in his typical way, that many biographies of emperors of this era “are blurred and unreliable pastiches of their reigns.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

Screenshots of the meme and interview were shared, with both the word "dictator" and Mbappé's face blurred out.

From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2026

The line between art and commerce has blurred so much that people unintentionally conflate all visual media with advertising — if they can’t see themselves in it, they’re not buying it.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026

"I guess it's safe to say that the line between war and peace has been blurred, and that's the new reality that we live with in Europe right now," he said, prescribing his Nordic remedy.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

Two young men in plain brown kaftans were running across the lawns and toward them with purpose, their silhouettes blurred against the blood-orange glow of the roaring fire at their back.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Dafydd Judd, a personal trainer in Cardiff, said he felt the "lines are blurring" between fitness and technology addiction.

From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026

In You Can See Everything, comedian Fielder - known for shows including The Rehearsal and The Curse - places himself inside the action, once again blurring the lines between documentary, social experiment and prank show.

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

For a brief time, he went to the gym without contacts or glasses, intentionally blurring his vision to reduce the risk of temptation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

Because the telescope observes from space, it can capture sharper images across complete rotations of Saturn without the blurring caused by Earth's atmosphere.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026

Me: IT sits on my table, ITs leg smears my chalk drawing, blurring the roots into a mossy fog.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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Related Words

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