- This article is about the sexual slur and slang term. For the German indie rock band, see Slut (band).
Slut is a pejorative term for a person (usually female) who is more sexually promiscuous than is deemed socially acceptable. The term has traditionally been applied to women and is generally used as an insult or offensive term of disparagement. Slut has also been reclaimed as a slang term in the BDSM, polyamorous and gay and bisexual communities. It may be used by the person concerned as an expression of pride in their status, or as an expression of enviousness in the "success rate" of others. The term is not interchangeable with whore or prostitute as those terms denote a person who engages in sex for money. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Wiktionary is a Wikimedia Foundation project intended to be a free wiki dictionary (hence: Wiktionary) (including thesaurus and lexicon) in every language. ...
Slut is a German indie rock band from Ingolstadt, Bavaria. ...
A word or phrase is pejorative if it implies contempt or disapproval. ...
A sex worker. ...
An insult is a statement or action which affronts or demeans someone. ...
To reclaim is to bring a word back to a more acceptable course. ...
Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ...
A collar is a common symbol in BDSM. BDSM is a term which describes a number of related patterns of human sexual behavior. ...
Start of polyamory contingent at San Francisco Pride 2004. ...
LGBT (or GLBT) is an abbreviation used as a collective term to refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people. ...
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See Envy (band) for the Japanese hardcore band. ...
Prostitution is the sale of sexual services. ...
Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual stimulation, oral sex, sexual intercourse, or anal sex) for cash or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. ...
Etymology Although the ultimate origin of "slut" is unknown, it first appeared in Middle English (1402) as slutte (AHD), with the meaning "a dirty, untidy, or slovenly woman." Even earlier, Chaucer used the word "sluttish" (c.1386) to describe a slovenly man; however, later uses appear almost exclusively associated with women. The modern sense of "a sexually promiscuous woman" dates to at least 1450; Middle English is the name given by historical linguistics to the diverse forms of the English language spoken between the Norman invasion of 1066 and the mid-to-late 15th century, when the Chancery Standard, a form of London-based English, began to become widespread, a process aided by the...
Another early meaning was "kitchen maid or drudge" (c. 1450), a meaning retained as late as the 18th century, when hard knots of dough found in bread were referred to as "slut's pennies." A notable example of this use is Samuel Pepys's diary description of his servant girl as "an admirable slut" who "pleases us mightily, doing more service than both the others and deserves wages better" (February 1664). In the 19th century, the word was used as a euphemism in place of bitch in the sense of "a female dog." Portrait of Samuel Pepys by John Hayls. ...
A euphemism is an expression intended by the speaker to be less offensive, disturbing, or troubling to the listener than the word or phrase it replaces, or in the case of doublespeak to make it less troublesome for the speaker. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Similar words appear in Dutch, German and Swedish dialects meaning "a dirty woman," indicating a common ancestor in Germanic languages. A popular theory connects "slut" to earlier Germanic forms meaning "slush" or "mud puddle," but this derivation remains in question.[1] Please note that the word "slut" used in modern Swedish means "ending".
Common usages The accepted denotative meaning is a sexually promiscuous woman (Merriam-Webster) or "a woman of a low or loose character; a bold or impudent girl; a hussy, jade." (OED, 2nd edition). These definitions identify a slut as a person of low character — a person who lacks the ability or chooses not to exercise a power of discernment to order their affairs, such as a cad, rake, or womanizer. The Tavern Scene from A Rakes Progress by William Hogarth. ...
Look up Womanizer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
The term slut is therefore frequently used as an insult. The derogatory power of the term derives both from its denotative meaning of a promiscuous woman, but also from its historical and regional connotations or alternate meanings that identify a slut as a dirty or unkempt person. These additional meanings and connotations are negative and identify a slut as being a slovenly and ugly person, for example as in these quotations from OED2: An insult is a statement or action which affronts or demeans someone. ...
The Oxford English Dictionary print set The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is a dictionary published by the Oxford University Press (OUP), and is generally regarded as the most comprehensive and scholarly dictionary of the English language. ...
- Hearne, 1715: "Nor was she a Woman of any Beauty, but was a nasty Slut."
- Shenstone, 1765: "She's ugly, she's old,... And a slut, and a scold."
The attack on the character of the person is perhaps best brought together by the highly suggestive and related compound word, slut's-hole, meaning a place or receptacle for rubbish [1]; the associated quote provides a sense of this original meaning: William Shenstone (November 13, 1714 – February 11, 1763) was an English poet and one of the earliest practitoners of landscape gardening through the development of his estate, The Leasowes. ...
- "1862 Sat. Rev. 15 Mar. 298 There are a good many slut-holes in London to rake out. "
Alternate usages Recent times have seen alternate slang usages of the word slut. Slut is often used against gay males and bisexuals, comparing them without merit as people who are promiscuous in that they have, or are reputed to have, many sexual partners, or whose sexuality is voracious, indiscriminate, and shameful. Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ...
For other uses, see Gay (disambiguation). ...
A sex worker. ...
With BDSM, polyamorous and non-monogamous people, in usage taken from the book The Ethical Slut, the term has been reclaimed as an expression of choice to openly have multiple partners, and revel in that choice: "a slut is a person of any gender who has the courage to lead life according to the radical proposition that sex is nice and pleasure is good for you." (Easton, Dossie & Catherine A. Liszt, The Ethical Slut, San Francisco 1997, p. 4, emphasis in original). A slut is a person who has taken control of their sexuality and has sex with whomever they choose, regardless of religious or social pressures or conventions to conform to a straight-laced monogamous lifestyle committed to one partner for life. The term has been taken back to express the rejection of the concept that government, society, or religion may judge or control one's personal liberties, and the right to control one's own sexuality. A collar is a common symbol in BDSM. BDSM is a term which describes a number of related patterns of human sexual behavior. ...
Start of polyamory contingent at San Francisco Pride 2004. ...
Nonmonogamy is a blanket term covering several different types of interpersonal relationship in which some or all participants have multiple marital, sexual, and/or romantic partners. ...
The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities (ISBN 1890159018) is a book about the practical aspects of polyamory. ...
To reclaim is to bring a word back to a more acceptable course. ...
Domestic partner or domestic partnership identifies the personal relationship between individuals who are living together and sharing a common domestic life together but are not joined in any type of legal partnership, marriage or civil union. ...
The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities (ISBN 1890159018) is a book about the practical aspects of polyamory. ...
The term is also used (principally by women) to describe a woman dressed provocatively or a woman being overtly flirtatious.
See also Slag is a derogatory slang term, primarily used in the United Kingdom, to describe a woman (or recently a man) of loose morals who engages in casual sex, snogging and promiscuous behaviour, or a weak and pathetic male. ...
The Ethical Slut: A Guide to Infinite Sexual Possibilities (ISBN 1890159018) is a book about the practical aspects of polyamory. ...
Start of polyamory contingent at San Francisco Pride 2004. ...
A collar is a common symbol in BDSM. BDSM is a term which describes a number of related patterns of human sexual behavior. ...
The Tavern Scene from A Rakes Progress by William Hogarth. ...
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