slur
noun
- symbol in musical notation
- disparaging remark
verb
- to articulate poorly, mumble, garble
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /slɜː/ / /slɜɹ/ / /slʌr/
noun
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.
- An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.
“It seems that according to their best guess, our mother's ^([sic]) drank too much coffee or alcohol, took drugs, or were under stress during the period of our conception. Underlying all this speculation is, of course, the big slur: we're some kind of unnatural or abnormal product, outside of humanity and their religions.”
- An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.
“In interviews, current and former students of color described an environment rife with racial insensitivity, including casual uses of slurs.”
“Elon Musk's recent declaration that the term "cis" is a slur indicates just how much transphobia is now central to Twitter.”
- A mark of dishonour; a blight or stain.
“a slur on one's reputation”
“The undeserved slur which he had cast on my management of the household did not, I am happy to say, prevent me from returning good for evil to the best of my ability, by complying with his request as readily and respectfully as ever.”
- An act of running one's words together; poor verbal articulation.
“And now I'm drinking too much, so I'ma talk with a slur”
- Any instance of separate things gradually blending together, such as heartbeats in some medical disorders.
- A set of notes that are played legato, without separate articulation.
- The symbol indicating a legato passage, written as an arc over the slurred notes (not to be confused with a tie).
verb
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.
- To insult or slight.
“And how men slur him, saying all his force / Is melted into mere effeminacy?”
- To run together; to articulate poorly.
“to slur syllables; He slurs his speech when he is drunk.”
“"Thank you for your donation," the girl says, slurring the words together into a single syllable.”
- To play legato or without separate articulation; to connect (notes) smoothly.
“Notes , the stems of which are joined together by cross lines, as in united quavers , semiquavers , & c . or notes over the heads of which a curve is drawn, to signify that they are to be slurred”
- To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.
“they do not only impudently slur the gospel, according to the history and the letter, in making it no better than a romantical legend[…]”
- To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice.
“With periods, points, and tropes, he slurs his crimes.”
- To cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick.
“to slur men of what they fought for”
- To blur or double, as an impression from type; to mackle.