EN

Synonyms for slur

50 synonyms
5 antonyms
4 meanings

verb
noun

Most common

smear disparage sully stain insult slight mask bilk

Synonyms by meaning

Verb

1. Smear — to soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace

smear, disparage, sully, stain, spot, demean, defame, smudge, disgrace, blot, besmirch, vilify, discredit, dirty, reproach, mark, soil, tarnish, blacken, defile, brand, touch

2. Insult — to insult or slight

insult, slight, affront, disregard, dis informal, wound, scandalize, scandalise UK, offend, abuse dated, scandal dated, misuse dated, slag off slang

3. Mask — to cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice

mask, hide, cloak, occult

4. Bilk — to cheat, as by sliding a die; to trick

bilk, dupe, cozen

Other

pass over, gloss over, dim

Noun

aspersion, innuendo, stigma, daub, obloquy

Antonyms

dignify, elevate, exalt

All antonyms of slur →

Definitions

v. 1
To insult or slight.
v. 2
To soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.
v. 3
To cover over; to disguise; to conceal; to pass over lightly or with little notice.
n. 1
An insult or slight, especially one that is muttered incoherently under one's breath.

Related words

Phrases: slur over

Forms

Plural: slurs → aspersions, innuendos, stigmas, daubs…
Past participle: slurred
e.g. slurred → smeared, disparaged, sullied, stained…

Example sentences

smear Will I be tested for chlamydia during my smear test?
sully I wouldn't want to sully your good name.
disparage We didn't mean to disparage our contenders.
demean I didn't mean to demean you.
insult An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.
affront The coup d'etat in Brazil is an affront to democracy.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
slur		rising
smear		rising
sully		rising
disparage		steady
demean		rising
insult		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters: dis¹, dim¹
4 letters: mark¹, spot¹, hide¹, soil¹, mask¹, blot¹, dupe¹, daub¹, bilk¹
5 letters: touch¹, brand¹, abuse², dirty², wound¹, stain¹, cloak¹, smear¹, sully², cozen
6 letters: slight¹, insult², stigma², offend², misuse², occult², smudge¹, demean², defile, defame², vilify³
7 letters: scandal², tarnish², affront², blacken², obloquy³
8 letters: disgrace², reproach², innuendo⁴, besmirch
9 letters: disregard³, discredit³, disparage³, aspersion³
10 letters: scandalize³, scandalise

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (abuse² = 2 syllables).