slur
Americanverb (used with object)
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slurs,
present (3rd person singular)
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slurred,
past participle, past
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slurring
present participle
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to pass over lightly or without due mention or consideration (often followed byover ).
The report slurred over her contribution to the enterprise.
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to pronounce (a syllable, word, etc.) indistinctly by combining, reducing, or omitting sounds, as in hurried or careless utterance.
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to cast aspersions on; calumniate; disparage; depreciate.
The candidate was viciously slurred by his opponent.
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Music.
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to sing to a single syllable or play without a break (two or more tones of different pitch).
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to mark with a slur.
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Chiefly British Dialect. to smirch, sully, or stain.
verb (used without object)
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slurs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slurred,
past participle, past
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slurring
present participle
noun
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slurs
plural
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a slurred utterance or sound.
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a disparaging remark or a slight: an ethnic slur against people of Irish descent.
quick to take offense at a slur;
an ethnic slur against people of Irish descent.
- Antonyms:
- compliment
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a blot or stain, as upon reputation.
a slur on his good name.
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Music.
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the combination of two or more tones of different pitch, sung to a single syllable or played without a break.
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a curved mark indicating this.
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Printing. a spot that is blurred or unclear as a result of paper, plate, or blanket slippage.
verb
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(often foll by over) to treat superficially, hastily, or without due deliberation; gloss
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(also intr) to pronounce or utter (words, etc) indistinctly
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to speak disparagingly of or cast aspersions on
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music to execute (a melodic interval of two or more notes) smoothly, as in legato performance
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(also intr) to blur or smear
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archaic to stain or smear; sully
noun
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an indistinct sound or utterance
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a slighting remark; aspersion
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a stain or disgrace, as upon one's reputation; stigma
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music
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a performance or execution of a melodic interval of two or more notes in a part
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the curved line ( or ) indicating this
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a blur or smear
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slursimple
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slurssimple
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have slurredperfect
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has slurredperfect
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am slurringprogressive
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are slurringprogressive
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is slurringprogressive
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have been slurringperfect progressive
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has been slurringperfect progressive
Past
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slurredsimple
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had slurredperfect
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was slurringprogressive
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were slurringprogressive
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had been slurringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slur
First recorded in 1595–1605; of multiple origins; in the sense “pass over without due consideration,” compare Low German slurren “to shuffle,” Dutch sleuren “to trail, drag”; in the sense “blot or stain,” compare Middle Dutch slore ( Dutch sloor ) “sluttish woman”
Explanation
A slur is an insulting remark. In a political campaign, it’s not unheard of for a candidate to launch a slur at her opponent, though doing so is usually frowned upon. Slur can also be used as a verb meaning “to insult,” and it has a number of additional meanings as well. To slur one’s speech is to pronounce words in a clumsy, lazy way. In the context of music, to slur is to slide smoothly from one note to another. The word history of slur is hazy, but some scholars have suggested a relationship with a Dutch word meaning "to drag."
Vocabulary lists containing slur
"The Treasure of Lemon Brown"
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Dear Martin
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Music - Middle School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She later apologised and said, external that she "genuinely had no idea" that the term she had used was considered a slur.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Once a slur that implied homosexuality was shamefully deviant, “queer” was “reclaimed” in the 1980s by gay activists as a synonym for “gay.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
That this didn’t happen has sparked a back-and-forth about culpability, with Deadline reporting BAFTA’s assurance that it made the BBC and the broadcast’s producers aware that the slur was audible shortly after Davidson blurted it.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
Labour MP Dawn Butler wrote to the BBC asking for an "urgent explanation" as to why the slur was broadcast despite the show being on a delay.
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
“I never feel like talking about it,” I said, but it was all slur and no edge.
From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx
Tourette’s is misunderstood, and coprolalia, a symptom of the condition that leads to involuntary swearing, slurs, or other socially unacceptable words or phrases, is even more so.
From Salon ● Mar. 1, 2026
A spokesperson for the charity Tourettes Action said it "deeply" understood the offence and harm caused by racial slurs.
From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026
The community group Cynefin Pamoja said work is needed "now more than ever" to educate young people on things such as racist slurs.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2025
While grappling with his explanations of “alt-right” and “hot take,” Mr. Fatsis found himself exploring controversies past and present about matters such as how definers should deal with ethnic slurs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
He slurs on, throwing words into the air all around us.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
His mum, Stacey, had begun vomiting and had slurred speech after waking up.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
He skipped over and slurred words as he tried to maintain an artificially quick tempo.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2026
May added that Tole “can speak right now, but it’s just so slurred and so labored for him, just because of all the trauma to his mouth and cheek.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
To create an otherworldly voice, Elordi studied Tibetan throat singing and incorporated the slurred consonants caused by dentures he’d been given for the role.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2025
“We’ll get back to Camp Lejeune someday,” Mrs. Meecham said, her eyes hunting for her husband’s plane again, her voice trailing off into a slurred whisper.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Chopin sought to convey these moods through explicit performing directions about fingering, pedaling and slurring.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
A prominent Australian television reporter apologised Thursday after slurring her way through a live broadcast from the Winter Olympics in a clip that went viral.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Since you brought up the Elon Musk interview, people have been saying that Trump sounded like he was slurring his words a little bit, maybe like he had a lisp.
From Salon ● Aug. 21, 2024
Gardner played a slurring “Woman Who’s Aging Gracefully,” but it was Nwodim’s portrayal of Charlotte, a stingray who was mysteriously impregnated at a North Carolina aquarium, that won the segment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2024
A good example of slurring occurs when a vocalist sings more than one note on the same syllable of text.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
