slurry

/ˈslʌ.ɹi/

//ˈslʌ.ɹi// noun

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

"slurry" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“slurry” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,973. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#30,973
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
13
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any flowable suspension of small particles in liquid.

Corpus desk

Index EN-slurry · slurry · English

slurry · rank #30,973 · 8 variants · 13 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #30,973
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH slingshot

Nearest frequency peer: slingshot (-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 “slurry”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “slurry” 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).

slurry vs sorry
67% similar
slurry vs slurs
67% similar
slurry vs surly
67% similar

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

Key facts for slurry
PropertyValue
Headwordslurry
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈslʌ.ɹi/
Letters6
Frequency rank#30,973
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs13
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “slurry”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).slurrylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “slingshot” (#30,972), “smarts” (#30,974), “sleepover” (#30,971). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “slurry” is #30,973. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around slurry (IPA /ˈslʌ.ɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #30,973 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for slurry, with forms such as "lsurry", "sllurry", and "slrury". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "sorry", "slurs", "surly", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unclear; probably related to Middle English sloor (“thin or fluid mud”); compare slur. From mid-15th c. The correct English form is slurry, spelled S-L-U-R-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any flowable suspension of small particles in liquid.
  2. 2
    Liquid waste from some types of mining, such as mountain top removal mining, usually very toxic and stored nearby in large dams.
  3. 3
    A mixture of animal waste, other organic material and sometimes water, stored in a slurry pit and used as fertilizer; also used in combination, as pig slurry, etc.
  4. 4
    A thickener.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 1981, National Research Council (U.S.) Committee on Animal Nutrition, Feeding Value of Ethanol Production By-products, page 26, While little information is available, it probably is similar to spent brewers yeast slurry.
  2. The most important application of fluid flow techniques in the mineral processing industry is the transportation of slurries. Whenever solid materials are in particulate form transportation in the form of a slurry is possible.

Etymology

Unclear; probably related to Middle English sloor (“thin or fluid mud”); compare slur. From mid-15th c.

This word in other languages

purín(Español)boue(Français)Schlämme(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • lsurry
  • sllurry
  • slrury
  • slurryy
  • slury
  • sluryr
  • sslurry
  • sulrry

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of slurry - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

lsurry2sllurry1slrury2slurryy1slury1sluryr2sslurry1sulrry2
Edit distance from "slurry"

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 "slurry"?
"slurry" is spelled S-L-U-R-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈslʌ.ɹi/.
What does "slurry" mean?
As a noun, "slurry" means: Any flowable suspension of small particles in liquid.
What words are commonly confused with "slurry"?
"slurry" is commonly confused with "sorry", "slurs", "surly". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "slurry"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slurry" is /ˈslʌ.ɹi/. 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 "slurry"?
Unclear; probably related to Middle English sloor (“thin or fluid mud”); compare slur. From mid-15th c. 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 "slurry", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

smarts#30,974sexier#30,965Saxony#30,957Sancho#30,953

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Scottie8 variantsstutter8 variantsValium8 variantsperky8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list