slur

/slɜː/

//slɜː// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"slur" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“slur” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,105. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,105
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.

Corpus desk

Index EN-slur · slur · English

slur · rank #23,105 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,105
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sleepless

Nearest frequency peer: sleepless (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “slur”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “slur” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

slur vs su
50% similar
slur vs sun
50% similar
slur vs sub
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for slur
PropertyValue
Headwordslur
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/slɜː/
Letters4
Frequency rank#23,105
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “slur”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).slurlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “sleepless” (#23,104), “snowball” (#23,106), “slashed” (#23,103). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “slur” is #23,105. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around slur (IPA /slɜː/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,105 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for slur, with forms such as "lsur", "sllur", and "slru". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "su", "sun", "sub", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sloor (“thin or fluid mud”). 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… The correct English form is slur, spelled S-L-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.
  2. 2
    An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.
  3. 3
    A mark of dishonour; a blight or stain.
  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).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how slur appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It seems that according to their best guess, our mother's ^([sic]) drank too much coffee or alcohol, took drugs, or were under stress during the period of our conception. Underlying all this speculation is, of course, the big slur: we're some kind of unnatural or abnormal product, outside of humanity and their religions.
  2. In interviews, current and former students of color described an environment rife with racial insensitivity, including casual uses of slurs.

Etymology

From Middle English sloor (“thin or fluid mud”). 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.

This word in other languages

legato(Español)insulte(Français)Verunglimpfung(Deutsch)insulto(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lsur
  • sllur
  • slru
  • slurr
  • sslur
  • sulr

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of slur - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

lsur2sllur1slru2slurr1sslur1sulr2
Edit distance from "slur"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "slur"?
"slur" is spelled S-L-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /slɜː/.
What does "slur" mean?
As a noun, "slur" means: An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.
What words are commonly confused with "slur"?
"slur" is commonly confused with "su", "sun", "sub". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "slur"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slur" is /slɜː/. 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 "slur"?
From Middle English sloor (“thin or fluid mud”). 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... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "slur", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sobs#23,107sewn#23,095thaw#23,130tout#23,134

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

saber6 variantsUSPS6 variantswares6 variantspant6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list