# slur

> English word · Noun · IPA /slɜː/ · frequency rank #23,105

## Definitions
1. An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.
2. An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.
3. A mark of dishonour; a blight or stain.
4. An act of running one's words together; poor verbal articulation.
5. Any instance of separate things gradually blending together, such as heartbeats in some medical disorders.
6. A set of notes that are played legato, without separate articulation.
7. The symbol indicating a legato passage, written as an arc over the slurred notes (not to be confused with a tie).

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **su** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-su)
- **sun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sun)
- **sub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sub)
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sum)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sue)
- **SUV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-suv)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sup)
- **sly** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sly)
- **STR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-str)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-stu)
- **Sus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sus)
- **Sui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sui)
- **suh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-suh)
- **Sul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sul)
- **sou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sou)
- **Snr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-snr)
- **sor** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sor)
- **sud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sud)
- **SPR** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-spr)
- **sure** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slur-vs-sure)

## Common misspellings (6)
`lsur`, `sllur`, `slru`, `slurr`, `sslur`, `sulr`

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