# smut

> English word · Noun · IPA /smʌt/ · frequency rank #34,290

## Definitions
1. Soot.
2. A flake of ash or soot.
3. Sexually vulgar material; something that is sexual in a dirty way; pornographic material.
4. Obscene language; ribaldry; obscenity.
5. Any of a range of fungi, mostly Ustilaginomycetes, that cause plant disease in grasses, including cereal crops; the disease so caused.
6. Bad, soft coal containing earthy matter, found in the immediate locality of faults.
7. A copper boiler.

## Etymology
From Middle English smutten (“to defile, debase”), related to German Schmutz (“filth, dirt, smut”) and schmutzen (“to make dirty, stain”). Doublet of schmutz.
Compare also Old English smitta (“smear; blot; mark; stain; pollution”), Old English besmītan (“to besmut; defile; dirty; pollute; contaminate”).

## Easily confused with
- **su** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-su)
- **sun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sun)
- **sub** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sub)
- **sum** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sum)
- **sue** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sue)
- **SUV** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-suv)
- **sup** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sup)
- **Stu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-stu)
- **Sus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sus)
- **Sui** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sui)
- **suh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-suh)
- **Sul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sul)
- **sou** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sou)
- **sud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sud)
- **sot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sot)
- **SST** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sst)
- **sort** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-sort)
- **spot** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-spot)
- **soul** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-soul)
- **suit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/smut-vs-suit)

## Common misspellings (5)
`smmut`, `smtu`, `smutt`, `ssmut`, `sumt`

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