slur

[ slur ]

/ slɜr /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR slur ON THESAURUS.COM

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

slump test, slumpflation, slung, slung shot, slunk, slur, slurb, slurp, slurry, slurve, slush

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 forms

un·slurred, adjective

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

Examples from the Web for slurring

The slurring of relationships and transactions has effects ranging from the gruesome to the melancholy.
Meet The Former Call Girl Saving Hookers For Jesus|Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig|July 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Shawn and Shelley sat in the sun at the pool until Jerry Lee came out, looking mean and slurring his words.
The Strange and Mysterious Death of Mrs. Jerry Lee Lewis|Richard Ben Cramer|January 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He did not appear drunk in any obvious weaving, slurring way.
Tina Brown: No, Conspiracy Theorists, Princess Diana Was Not Murdered|Tina Brown|August 19, 2013|DAILY BEAST
It turns out that as a slurring, stumbling Weeble Wobble of a trophy wife, Akerman really shines.
Fall-Winter TV Preview: Snap Judgments of 2013–14’s New Shows|Jace Lacob, Kevin Fallon|July 16, 2013|DAILY BEAST

Slurring her words and stumbling on her delivery, people wondered aloud if, gasp, Sawyer was drunk on air.
13 Must-See Moments From Election Night (VIDEO)|Jake Heller, Ben Teitelbaum|November 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Her lovely, slurring, Blue-grass voice made the whole company smile with pleasure.
Blue-grass and Broadway|Maria Thompson Daviess
The Laird owned many ships, and he noted the slurring of the "sir" as only an old sailor can slur it.
Kindred of the Dust|Peter B. Kyne
But it was novel to me to find an entire class deliberately loafing and shirking and slurring on principle.
John Marvel, Assistant|Thomas Nelson Page
“There was always a camptender and a sheepherder or two about,” Toomey answered with slurring significance.
The Fighting Shepherdess |Caroline Lockhart
No slurring of wrong so that it may look like an exalted right.
The Heritage of the Sioux|B.M. Bower

British Dictionary definitions for slurring

slur

/ (slɜː) /

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