slattern

[slat-ern]

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noun

a slovenly, untidy woman or girl.

a slut; harlot.

Origin of slattern

First recorded in 1630–40; perhaps akin to dial. slatter to splash, spill < ?

Word story

See slut.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for slattern

floozy, wanton, tramp, jade, hussy, baggage, wench, vamp, hooker, tart, harlot, whore, prostitute

Examples from the Web for slattern

Historical Examples of slattern

It is true that Nanny was a slattern, but only because she married into slavery.
A Window in Thrums
J. M. Barrie
From her I learned that because one is an actress it is not necessary to be a slattern.
Ten American Girls From History
Kate Dickinson Sweetser
It was still early in the day and there was something of the slattern in her dragging gown.
Doom Castle
Neil Munro
It seemed to her that they would mock her as the slattern had mocked her, should she appeal to them.
'Drag' Harlan
Charles Alden Seltzer
I took a sort of hate against her, she was such a slattern and so inquisitive.
A Book of Ghosts
Sabine Baring-Gould

British Dictionary definitions for slattern

slattern

noun

a slovenly woman or girl; slut

Derived Formsslatternly, adjectiveslatternliness, noun

Word Origin for slattern

C17: probably from slattering, from dialect slatter to slop; perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Old Norse sletta to slap

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for slattern

1630s, "a woman negligent or disordered in her dress or household," of uncertain origin, probably related to Low German Slattje, Dutch slodder, dialectal Swedish slata "slut" (in the older, non-sexual sense; cf. slut). Cf. dialectal English verb slatter "to spill or splash awkwardly, to waste," used of women or girls considered untidy or slovenly.