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slut

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

Letters

4 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "slut", 4-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 "slut" 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 "slut" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

slut is aEnglishnoun. It means: A sexually promiscuous woman. Pronounced /slʌt/. Often confused with su and sun.

Key facts for slut
PropertyValue
Headwordslut
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/slʌt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#10,278
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

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

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for slut is 4 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /slʌt/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,278 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 6 documented wrong-spelling variants for slut, with forms such as "lsut", "sllut", and "sltu". 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, "su", "sun", "sub", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English slutt, slutte, slute (“a dirty or slovenly person, usually a woman, scullery maid; messy animal to prepare as food; slush, mud”), probably from Old English *slȳte (“sleet”), from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-Germanic *slauti… 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 slut, spelled S-L-U-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sexually promiscuous woman.
  2. 2
    A sexually promiscuous woman.
  3. 3
    Any sexually promiscuous person.
  4. 4
    Someone who seeks attention through inappropriate means or to an excessive degree.
  5. 5
    A disloyal individual; someone who does not commit to a particular thing.
  6. 6
    A slovenly, untidy person, usually a woman.
  7. 7
    A bold, outspoken woman.
  8. 8
    A female dog.
  9. 9
    A maidservant.
  10. 10
    A rag soaked in a flammable substance and lit for illumination.

Etymology

From Middle English slutt, slutte, slute (“a dirty or slovenly person, usually a woman, scullery maid; messy animal to prepare as food; slush, mud”), probably from Old English *slȳte (“sleet”), from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-Germanic *slautijǭ (“sleet, hail”), related to Proto-West Germanic *slaut (“puddle, ditch”). Compare Dutch slodder and slet, dialectal Swedish slata (“idle woman”), Norwegian sludd (“sleet”), and the dialectal Norwegian slutr (“sleet, impure liquid”). Doublet of sleet.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: lsut,sllut,sltu,slutt,sslut,sult

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for slut

Misspelling Variants of "slut"

lsut4sllut5sltu4slutt5sslut5sult4
Misspelling Variants of "slut"

Frequency rank: #10,278 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "slut"?
"slut" is spelled S-L-U-T. The IPA pronunciation is /slʌt/.
What does "slut" mean?
As a noun, "slut" means: A sexually promiscuous woman.
What words are commonly confused with "slut"?
"slut" 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 "slut"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "slut" is /slʌt/. 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 "slut"?
From Middle English slutt, slutte, slute (“a dirty or slovenly person, usually a woman, scullery maid; messy animal to prepare as food; slush, mud”), probably from Old English *slȳte (“sleet”), from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-German... 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.