Adjacent Words

Slur definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SLUR, v.t.
1. To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.
2. To pass lightly; to conceal. With periods, points and tropes he slurs his crimes.
3. To cheat; to trick. [Unusual.]
4. In music, to sing or perform in a smooth gliding style.
SLUR, n.
1. Properly, a black mark; hence, slight reproach or disgrace. Every violation of moral duty should be a slur to the reputation.
2. In music, a mark connecting noest that are to be sung to the same syllable, or made in one continued breath of a wind instrument, or with one stoke of a stringed instrument.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: (music) a curved line spanning notes that are to be played legato
2: a disparaging remark; "in the 19th century any reference to female sexuality was considered a vile aspersion"; "it is difficult for a woman to understand a man's sensitivity to any slur on his virility" [syn: aspersion, slur]
3: a blemish made by dirt; "he had a smudge on his cheek" [syn: smudge, spot, blot, daub, smear, smirch, slur] v
1: play smoothly or legato; "the pianist slurred the most beautiful passage in the sonata"
2: speak disparagingly of; e.g., make a racial slur; "your comments are slurring your co-workers"
3: utter indistinctly
4: become vague or indistinct; "The distinction between the two theories blurred" [syn: blur, dim, slur] [ant: focalise, focalize, focus]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: obsolete English dialect slur thin mud, from Middle English sloor; akin to Middle High German slier mud Date: 1609 1. a. an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo ; aspersion b. a shaming or degrading effect ; stain, stigma 2. a blurred spot in printed matter ; smudge II. verb (slurred; slurring) Date: 1660 transitive verb 1. to cast aspersions on ; disparage <slurred his reputation> 2. to make indistinct ; obscure intransitive verb to slip so as to cause a slur — used of a sheet being printed III. verb (slurred; slurring) Etymology: probably from Low German slurrn to shuffle; akin to Middle English sloor mud Date: 1660 transitive verb 1. a. to slide or slip over without due mention, consideration, or emphasis <slurred over certain facts> b. to perform hurriedly ; skimp <let him not slur his lesson — R. W. Emerson> 2. to perform (successive tones of different pitch) in a smooth or connected manner 3. a. to reduce, make a substitution for, or omit (sounds that would normally occur in an utterance) b. to utter with such reduction, substitution, or omission of sounds <his speech was slurred> intransitive verb 1. dialect chiefly England slip, slide 2. drag, shuffle IV. noun Date: circa 1801 1. a. a curved line connecting notes to be sung to the same syllable or performed without a break b. the combination of two or more slurred tones 2. a slurring manner of speech

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (slurred, slurring) 1 tr. & intr. pronounce or write indistinctly so that the sounds or letters run into one another. 2 tr. Mus. a perform (a group of two or more notes) legato. b mark (notes) with a slur. 3 tr. archaic or US put a slur on (a person or a person's character); make insinuations against. 4 tr. (usu. foll. by over) pass over (a fact, fault, etc.) lightly; conceal or minimize. --n. 1 an imputation of wrongdoing; blame; stigma (a slur on my reputation). 2 the act or an instance of slurring in pronunciation, singing, or writing. 3 Mus. a curved line to show that two or more notes are to be sung to one syllable or played or sung legato. Etymology: 17th c.: orig. unkn.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Slur Slur, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Slurred; p. pr. & vb. n. Slurring.] [Cf. OE. sloor mud, clay, Icel. sl?ra, slo?ra, to trail or drag one's self along, D. sleuren, sloren, to train, to drag, to do negligently and slovenly, D. sloor, sloerie, a sluttish girl.] 1. To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace. --Cudworth. 2. To disparage; to traduce. --Tennyson. 3. To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice. With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes. --Dryden. 4. To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick. [R.] To slur men of what they fought for. --Hudibras. 5. To pronounce indistinctly; as, to slur syllables. 6. (Mus.) To sing or perform in a smooth, gliding style; to connect smoothly in performing, as several notes or tones. --Busby. 7. (Print.) To blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Slur Slur, n. 1. A mark or stain; hence, a slight reproach or disgrace; a stigma; a reproachful intimation; an innuendo. ``Gaining to his name a lasting slur.'' --South. 2. A trick played upon a person; an imposition. [R.] 3. (Mus.) A mark, thus [[upslur] or [downslur]], connecting notes that are to be sung to the same syllable, or made in one continued breath of a wind instrument, or with one stroke of a bow; a tie; a sign of legato. 4. In knitting machines, a contrivance for depressing the sinkers successively by passing over them.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(slurs, slurring, slurred) 1. A slur is an insulting remark which could damage someone's reputation. This is yet another slur on the integrity of the Metropolitan Police. = smear N-COUNT: oft N on n 2. If someone slurs their speech or if their speech slurs, they do not pronounce each word clearly, because they are drunk, ill, or sleepy. He repeated himself and slurred his words more than usual... The newscaster's speech began to slur... VERB: V n, V

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Tarnish, soil, sully, contaminate, pollute, disgrace. 2. Reproach, traduce, asperse, disparage, depreciate, calumniate, speak of slightingly or disrespectfully. 3. Disregard, slight, pass by, pass over, gloss over, obscure, conceal. II. n. 1. Mark, stain. 2. Reproach, stigma, stain, brand, disgrace. 3. Innuendo. 4. (In printing.) Blur, double, macule.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To slur, is a method of cheating at dice: also to cast a reflection on any one's character, to scandalize.

Moby Thesaurus

accent, accent mark, affront, asperse, aspersion, attaint, bad-mouth, badge of infamy, bar, bar sinister, baton, bedaub, befoul, bend sinister, besmear, besmirch, besmoke, bespatter, bestain, black eye, black mark, blacken, blink, blot, blow upon, blur, brand, broad arrow, calumniate, calumny, cancel, cantando, carefully ignore, cast aspersions on, cast reflections on, censure, champain, character, cold-shoulder, custos, cut a corner, cut corners, darken, daub, defame, defile, demilegato, denigrate, dip into, direct, dirty, disapprove, discolor, discredit, disparage, disparagement, disregard, dodge, dot, examine cursorily, execution, expose, expose to infamy, expression, expression mark, fermata, fingering, fudge, garble, gibbet, give the once-over, glance at, glissando, gloss over, hang in effigy, hold, ignore, imputation, innuendo, insinuation, insult, intonation, key signature, lead, legato, libel, ligature, lisp, malign, mark, mark of Cain, measure, metronomic mark, mezzo staccato, mumble, music-making, notation, obloquy, odium, onus, page through, parlando, pass over, pass over lightly, pause, performance, personal remark, personality, pianism, pillory, pillorying, pizzicato, point champain, presa, put-down, reflection, rendering, rendition, repercussion, reprimand, reproach, rubato, scamp, scan, scorch, sear, segno, sign, signature, singe, skid, skim, skim over, skim the surface, skimp, skip over, slam, slander, slidder, slight, slip, slip through, slubber, slubber over, slur over, sly suggestion, smear, smirch, smoke, smudge, smutch, soil, spiccato, spot, staccato, stain, stigma, stigmatism, stigmatization, stigmatize, stricture, stutter, suggestion, sully, swell, symbol, taint, tarnish, tear down, tempo mark, thumb through, tie, time signature, touch, touch upon, touch upon lightly, traduce, uncomplimentary remark, vilify, vinculum, whispering campaign, zip through