blur

B2 Topic:Photography & Images

US /blɝ/ UK /ˈblɜː/ See IPA manual

Freq #11388

Meanings

1

verb
To make something unclear or hard to see clearly.

Tears blurred her vision as she read the letter.
2

verb
To become unclear or indistinct.

The line between work and home has blurred since I started working remotely.
3

noun
Something seen unclearly, without sharp shapes or edges.

The whole evening passed in a blur.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to make something unclear... fuzz

2 verb · to become unclear or... dim

3 noun · something seen unclearly,... fuzz

Opposites

sharpen

Word family

Forms blurredblurringblurs

Derived forms abluranti-blurbeblurblurlessblurrableblurrerblurringlyblurryblursdaydeblurnonblurringunblur

Etymology

From earlier blurre, probably an alteration of blear, from Middle English bleren, from Old English *blerian (attested in āblered (“made bare, made bald”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *blazjaną (“to make pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“pale”). Compare Scots blore, bloar (“to blur, cover with blots”), Low German bleeroged (“blear-eyed”). More at blear.

bleren Middle English *blerian Old English *blaʀjan Proto-West Germanic *blazjaną Proto-Germanic *blasaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Photography & Images Actions & Processes

External links

# blur

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /blɝ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈblɜː/
**Frequency rank:** 11388

## Meanings
1. To make something unclear or hard to see clearly.
2. To become unclear or indistinct.
3. Something seen unclearly, without sharp shapes or edges.

## Examples
- Tears blurred her vision as she read the letter.
- The line between work and home has blurred since I started working remotely.
- The whole evening passed in a blur.

## Antonyms
- sharpen

## Derived Forms
- ablur
- anti-blur
- beblur
- blurless
- blurrable
- blurrer
- blurringly
- blurry
- blursday
- deblur
- nonblurring
- unblur

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bleren
- Root: *blerian
- Root: *blaʀjan
- Root: *blazjaną
- Root: *blasaz

## Etymology
From earlier blurre, probably an alteration of blear, from Middle English bleren, from Old English *blerian (attested in āblered (“made bare, made bald”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *blazjaną (“to make pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“pale”). Compare Scots blore, bloar (“to blur, cover with blots”), Low German bleeroged (“blear-eyed”). More at blear.

## AI Etymology
Blur comes from earlier blurre, probably an alteration of blear, from Middle English bleren, from Old English *blerian (attested in āblered (“made bare, made bald”)), from Proto-West Germanic *blaʀjan, from Proto-Germanic *blazjaną (“to make pale”), from Proto-Germanic *blasaz (“pale”). Compare Scots blore, bloar (“to blur, cover with blots”), Low German bleeroged (“blear-eyed”). More at blear.

## Topics
- Photography & Images
- Actions & Processes

markdown