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slump

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "slump", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "slump" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "slump" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

slump is aEnglishverb. It means: To collapse heavily or helplessly. Pronounced /slʌmp/. Often confused with sum and sup.

Key facts for slump
PropertyValue
Headwordslump
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/slʌmp/
Letters5
Frequency rank#18,187
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of slump in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for slump is 5 letters long, classified as averb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /slʌmp/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,187 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for slump, with forms such as "lsump", "sllump", and "slmup". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sum", "sup", "SMP", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Probably of North Germanic origin: compare Danish slumpe (“to stumble upon by chance”), Norwegian slumpe (“happen by chance”), Norwegian slumpa (“happen by chance”), Swedish slumpa (“randomize; to sell off”), Swedish slump (“chance, randomness, happenstance… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is slump, spelled S-L-U-M-P, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    To collapse heavily or helplessly.
  2. 2
    To decline or fall off in activity or performance.
  3. 3
    To slouch or droop.
  4. 4
    To lump; to throw together messily.
  5. 5
    To fall or sink suddenly through or in, when walking on a surface, as on thawing snow or ice, a bog, etc.
  6. 6
    To cause to collapse; to hit hard; to render unconscious; to kill.

Etymology

Probably of North Germanic origin: compare Danish slumpe (“to stumble upon by chance”), Norwegian slumpe (“happen by chance”), Norwegian slumpa (“happen by chance”), Swedish slumpa (“randomize; to sell off”), Swedish slump (“chance, randomness, happenstance”). Compare also German schlumpen (“to trail; draggle; be sloppy”), dialectal Dutch slompen (“to walk clumsily”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: lsump,sllump,slmup,slummp,slumpp,slupm,sslump,sulmp

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for slump

Misspelling Variants of "slump"

lsump5sllump6slmup5slummp6slumpp6slupm5sslump6sulmp5
Misspelling Variants of "slump"

Frequency rank: #18,187 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "slump"?
"slump" is spelled S-L-U-M-P. The IPA pronunciation is /slʌmp/.
What does "slump" mean?
As a verb, "slump" means: To collapse heavily or helplessly.
What words are commonly confused with "slump"?
"slump" is commonly confused with "sum", "sup", "SMP". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "slump"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slump" is /slʌmp/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "slump"?
Probably of North Germanic origin: compare Danish slumpe (“to stumble upon by chance”), Norwegian slumpe (“happen by chance”), Norwegian slumpa (“happen by chance”), Swedish slumpa (“randomize; to sell off”), Swedish slump (“chance, randomness, ha... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter S in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.