slur

[slur]

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verb (used with object), slurred, slur·ring.

to pass over lightly or without due mention or consideration (often followed by over): The report slurred over her contribution to the enterprise.

to pronounce (a syllable, word, etc.) indistinctly by combining, reducing, or omitting sounds, as in hurried or careless utterance.

to cast aspersions on; calumniate; disparage; depreciate: The candidate was viciously slurred by his opponent.

Music.

to sing to a single syllable or play without a break (two or more tones of different pitch).
to mark with a slur.

Chiefly British Dialect. to smirch, sully, or stain.

verb (used without object), slurred, slur·ring.

to read, speak, or sing hurriedly and carelessly.

noun

a slurred utterance or sound.

a disparaging remark or a slight: quick to take offense at a slur;an ethnic slur against people of Irish descent.

a blot or stain, as upon reputation: a slur on his good name.

Music.

the combination of two or more tones of different pitch, sung to a single syllable or played without a break.
a curved mark indicating this.

Printing. a spot that is blurred or unclear as a result of paper, plate, or blanket slippage.

Nearby words

Origin of slur

1595–1605; apparently of multiple orig.; in senses referring to a gliding or smooth transition, compare Low German slurren to shuffle, Dutch sleuren to trail, drag; in senses referring to a smirch or stain, compare Middle Dutch slore (Dutch sloor) sluttish woman

SYNONYMS FOR slur

1. slight, disregard, gloss. 3. slander, asperse. 8. innuendo, insult, affront. 9. stigma, disgrace.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR slur ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR slur

8. compliment.

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Related formsun·slurred, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for slur

One slur is not good, while another is fine because the league has not lost any money in a consumer boycott of the name.
Mark Cuban Warns That Basketball Players Could Get the Sterling Treatment Next|Evan Weiner|June 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Also, horrible-person-check yourself, which means NO use of the n-word, the f-word—any slur, really.
15 Achievable New Year’s Resolutions|Kelly Williams Brown|December 31, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Cooper added: “If Alec Baldwin had yelled the n-word to that photographer, or yelled some anti-Jewish slur, it would be over!”
Should MSNBC Fire Alec Baldwin and Martin Bashir?|Lloyd Grove|November 23, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It'd be a challenge to find a kid with a disability who hasn't had that slur thrown his or her way.
What Hawking and Jerusalem Day Have in Common|Maysoon Zayid|May 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST

It seems like only yesterday that people who cited Hagel's past views and comments were accused of practicing a politics of slur.
Is There Anything Chuck Hagel Won't Say?|David Frum|January 9, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Laure was the only one of Mazarin's nieces on whom there is no slur.
Court Beauties of Old Whitehall|W. R. H. Trowbridge
She said it with a slur of the word gentleman which was more contemptuous than any emphasis, and walked slowly on.
Little Dorrit|Charles Dickens
Mr. Jack Jones stentoriously resented this slur upon their taste.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, May 5, 1920|Various
I was fairly dumfounded, and thought perhaps he was casting a slur, as I had been doing considerable talking.
Twenty Years of Hus'ling|J. P. Johnston
It is no slur at the patriotism of our troops to say that they would fight better for such a splendid inducement as we hold out.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 2, No 3, September, 1862|Various

British Dictionary definitions for slur

slur

verb slurs, slurring or slurred (mainly tr)

(often foll by over) to treat superficially, hastily, or without due deliberation; gloss

(also intr) to pronounce or utter (words, etc) indistinctly

to speak disparagingly of or cast aspersions on

music to execute (a melodic interval of two or more notes) smoothly, as in legato performance

(also intr) to blur or smear

archaic to stain or smear; sully

noun

an indistinct sound or utterance

a slighting remark; aspersion

a stain or disgrace, as upon one's reputation; stigma

music

a performance or execution of a melodic interval of two or more notes in a part
the curved line (⌢ or ⌣) indicating this

a blur or smear

Word Origin for slur

C15: probably from Middle Low German; compare Middle Low German slūren to drag, trail, Middle Dutch sloren, Dutch sleuren

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 slur

slur

"deliberate slight, disparaging or slighting remark," c.1600, from dialectal slur "thin or fluid mud," from Middle English slore (mid-15c.), cognate with Middle Low German sluren, Middle Dutch sloren "to trail in mud." Related to East Frisian sluren "to go about carelessly," Norwegian slora "to be careless." Literal sense of "a mark, stain, smear" is from 1660s in English. The musical sense (1746) is from the notion of "sliding." Meaning "act or habit of slurring" in speech is from 1882.

slur

c.1600, "smear, soil by smearing," from slur (n.). Meaning "disparage depreciate" is from 1650s. In music, from 1746; of speech, from 1893. Related: Slurred; slurring.

slur

verb (used with object), slurred, slur·ring.

verb (used without object), slurred, slur·ring.

noun

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Origin of slur

Examples from the Web for slur

slur

verb slurs, slurring or slurred (mainly tr)

noun

Word Origin for slur

slur

slur