Link Centre Dictionary

smut

UK/smʌt/ US/smʊt/ uncommon archaic slang
noun (4) verb (4)

noun

1.

a black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink

Synonyms
2.

destructive diseases of plants (especially cereal grasses) caused by fungi that produce black powdery masses of spores

3.

any fungus of the order Ustilaginales

Synonyms
4.

creative activity (writing or pictures or films etc.) of no literary or artistic value other than to stimulate sexual desire

Synonyms

verb

1.

make obscene

  • “This line in the play smuts the entire act”
2.

stain with a dirty substance, such as soot

3.

become affected with smut

  • “the corn smutted and could not be eaten”
4.

affect with smut or mildew, as of a crop such as corn

Origin

From Middle English smutten (“to defile, debase”), related to German Schmutz (“filth, dirt, smut”) and schmutzen (“to make dirty, stain”). Doublet of schmutz. Compare also Old English smitta (“smear; blot; mark; stain; pollution”), Old English besmītan (“to besmut; defile; dirty; pollute; contaminate”).

Phrases

  • barley smut
  • corn smut
  • false loose smut
  • loose smut
  • onion smut
  • smut fungus

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Parts

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.