# slag

> English word · Noun · IPA /slæɡ/ · frequency rank #22,814

## Definitions
1. Waste material from a mine.
2. Scum that forms on the surface of molten metal.
3. Impurities formed and separated out when a metal is smelted from ore; vitrified cinders.
4. Hard aggregate remaining as a residue from blast furnaces, sometimes used as a surfacing material.
5. Scoria associated with a volcano.
6. A prostitute or promiscuous woman; a slut.
7. A coward.
8. A contemptible person, a scumbag.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Middle Low German slagge, slaggen (“slag, dross”), from Old Saxon *slaggo, from Proto-West Germanic *slaggō, from Proto-Germanic *slaggô, from Proto-Germanic *slagōną (“to strike”) + *-gô (diminutive suffix). Compare Middle Low German slāgen (“to strike”), since originally the splinters struck off from the metal by hammering, from *slagōn, from Proto-West Germanic *slagōn. Compare also Old Saxon slegi, from Proto-West Germanic *slagi.
See also Dutch slak, German Schlacke, Swedish slagg; also compare English slay.

## Easily confused with
- **spa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-spa)
- **sly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-sly)
- **STA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-sta)
- **SLR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-slr)
- **SMA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-sma)
- **SLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-slc)
- **SoA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-soa)
- **SSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-ssa)
- **SVG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-svg)
- **SLE** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-sle)
- **SNA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-sna)
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-stay)
- **song** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-song)
- **star** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-star)
- **slow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-slow)
- **slip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-slip)
- **snap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-snap)
- **soap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-soap)
- **slot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-slot)
- **span** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slag-vs-span)

## Common misspellings (6)
`lsag`, `salg`, `slagg`, `slga`, `sllag`, `sslag`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/slag