slattern
Americannoun
-
a slovenly, untidy woman or girl.
-
a slut; harlot.
noun
Other Word Forms
- slatternliness noun
- slatternly adjective
Etymology
Origin of slattern
First recorded in 1630–40; perhaps akin to dial. slatter to splash, spill < ?
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
This is definitely the feel I’m going for – not slattern.
From The Guardian • Jan. 20, 2021
The woman who was a natural comic slattern in England People Very Nice became an unwavering, intelligent presence in Tribes.
From The Guardian • Jun. 8, 2013
In Charlotte Brontë’s “Jane Eyre,” Jane’s school friend Helen Burns is constantly in trouble, regarded by many of the teachers as a slattern and a “dirty, disagreeable girl.”
From New York Times • Dec. 21, 2010
Jean Smart is a good comic actress, but what can you do when you're written as a one-dimensional slattern, held in contempt by your hipster child?
From Time • Jan. 8, 2010
The bed was lumpy, the walls dirty yellow, the curtains like the underskirts of a slattern.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
