Link Centre Dictionary

slur

UK/slɜː/ US/slɜɹ/ uncommon dated
noun (3) verb (4)

noun

1.

(music) a curved line spanning notes that are to be played legato

2.

a disparaging remark

  • “in the 19th century any reference to female sexuality was considered a vile aspersion”
  • “it is difficult for a woman to understand a man”
Synonyms
3.

a blemish made by dirt

  • “he had a smudge on his cheek”
Synonyms

verb

1.

play smoothly or legato

  • “the pianist slurred the most beautiful passage in the sonata”
2.

speak disparagingly of; e.g., make a racial slur

  • “your comments are slurring your co-workers”
3.
4.

become vague or indistinct

  • “The distinction between the two theories blurred”
Synonyms
Antonyms

Origin

From Middle English sloor (“thin or fluid mud”). The ultimate origin is uncertain, but perhaps related to a group of words derived from Proto-Germanic *slūm- (“loose, slack, flabby”), such as slumber. Cognate with Middle Low German sluren (“to trail in mud”). Also related to dialectal Norwegian sløra (“to be careless, to scamp, dawdle”), Danish sløre (“to wobble, be loose”) (especially for wheels); compare Old Norse slóðra (“to drag oneself along”). * (an extremely offensive term): Influenced by various compounds of sense 1 such as racial slur, ethnic slur, etc.

Phrases

  • slur over

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.