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PlainSpell

slur

/slɜɹ/noun, verb

slur is spelled S-L-U-R: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, slur means “An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of slur is slurs.

How many letters and syllables are in slur?

Letters4: S-L-U-R
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.5 times per million words; the 22,965th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is slur?

Slur appears 1.5 times per million words in written English, the 22,965th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce slur?

  • UK /slɜː/
  • US /slɜɹ/
  • /slʌr/

Slur has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-slur.wav, En-us-slur.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with slur?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as slur from its last stressed vowel (/ɜɹ/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of slur

  • slurs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • slurring participle, present
  • slurred participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does slur mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.

  2. 2

    A derogatory term targeted at a group of people (such as an ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.).

  3. 3

    A mark of dishonour; a blight or stain.

    a slur on one's reputation

  4. 4

    An act of running one's words together; poor verbal articulation.

  5. 5

    Any instance of separate things gradually blending together, such as heartbeats in some medical disorders.

  6. 6

    A set of notes that are played legato, without separate articulation.

  7. 7

    The symbol indicating a legato passage, written as an arc over the slurred notes (not to be confused with a tie).

verb

  1. 1

    To insult or slight.

  2. 2

    To run together; to articulate poorly.

    to slur syllables;  He slurs his speech when he is drunk.

  3. 3

    To play legato or without separate articulation; to connect (notes) smoothly.

  4. 4

    To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.

  5. 5

    To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice.

  6. 6

    To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick.

  7. 7

    datedTo blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Slur in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchinsulte, injure (insult or slight), liaison d'expression, coulé, legato (symbol indicating a legato passage), dénigrer (to insult or slight)
GermanVerunglimpfung, Beleidigung (insult or slight), Bindebogen (symbol indicating a legato passage), undeutlich reden (to articulate poorly)
Portugueseinsulto (insult or slight), ligadura (symbol indicating a legato passage), arrastar (to articulate poorly)
Spanishinsulto discriminatorio, insulto racista, insulto étnico (insult or slight), legato, ligadura de expresión, ligadura (symbol indicating a legato passage)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does slur come from?

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.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after slur