Etymology From Middle English slutt, slutte, slute (“a dirty or slovenly person, usually a woman, scullery maid; messy animal to prepare as food; slush, mud”), probably from Old English *slȳte (“sleet”), from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-Germanic *slautijǭ (“sleet, hail”), related to Proto-West Germanic *slaut (“puddle, ditch”). Compare Dutch slodder and slet, dialectal Swedish slata (“idle woman”), Norwegian sludd (“sleet”), and the dialectal Norwegian slutr (“sleet, impure liquid”). Doublet of sleet.
In other words, we know who you are—the bastard child of that slut and her foolish carpenter.2021 [2001], John Eldredge, chapter 10, in Wild at Heart, Expanded edition, Nelson Books, →ISBN, page 170:
Before he met you, he was such a whore. No, I'm sorry! Whores get paid. He was a slut.2005, Adam & Steve:
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Derogatory, Figuratively, Often, Vulgar Someone who seeks attention through inappropriate means or to an excessive degree.
a press slut
Dude: Since when did you become a political whore? Phil: I prefer the term political slut, thank you very much!2004 February 12, Bayard Russell, nonemorecomic:
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Derogatory, Figuratively, Often, Vulgar A disloyal individual; someone who does not commit to a particular thing.
That guy was a job slut; he changed jobs way too often and quickly, to the point that employers will no longer hire him.
Clo. Truly, and to cast away honestie vppon a foule slut, were to put good meate into an vncleane dish. / Aud. I am not a slut, though I thanke the Goddes I am foule.c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
Where fires thou find’st unrak’d, and hearths unswept, / There pinch the Maids as blew as Bill-berry, / Our radiant Queene, hates Sluts, and Sluttery.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
3 more examples
Some cry out against sin even as the mother cries out against her child in her lap, when she calleth it slut and naughty girl, and then falls to hugging and kissing it.1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC:
The doat on Dowdyes, and Deformity: E'en what they cannot praise, they will not blame, But veil with some extenuating name: The Sallow Skin is for the Swarthy put, And love can make a Slattern of a Slut …1685, John Dryden, Slyvae: or, the Second Part of Poetical Miscellanies, "Lucretius: The Fourth Book. Concerning the Nature of Love,: lines 142-46
If we find clean water and clean towels we leave them money, either in their basins, or in their shoes; but if we find no clean water in their houses, we wash our children in their pottage, milk, or beer, or whatever we find: for the sluts that have not such things fitting, we wash their faces and hands with a gilded child's clout, or else carry them to some river and duck them over head and ears.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 289:
Our Polly is a sad Slut! nor heeds what we have taught her.1728, [John] Gay, The Beggar’s Opera. […], London: […] John Watts, […], →OCLC, (please specify the page):
To hear her rant, one would have supposed, who had not seen him, that her lank-haired, grimly partner was the prettiest youth in the county of Dublin, and that all the comely lasses in Chapelizod and the country round were sighing and setting caps at him; and Devereux, who had a vein of satire, and loved even farce, enjoyed the heroics of the fat old slut.1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “In Which Mr. Dangerfield Visits the Church of Chapelizod, and Zekiel Irons Goes A-fishing”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume I, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 203:
1 more example
You damned impudent slut, you! But it's better than snivelling; better than fetching slippers and finding spectacles, isnt it? [Rising] By George, Eliza, I said I'd make a woman of you; and I have. I like you like this.1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act V, page 190:
‘Bête!’ returned the angry Frenchman, bestowing a savage kick on one of the unoffending pups which was frisking about his feet. The pup yelped; the slut barked and leaped furiously at the offender, and was only kept from biting him by Sam, who could scarcely hold her back for laughing; the captain was uproarious; the offended Frenchman alone maintained a severe and dignified aspect.1852, Susanna Moodie, Roughing it in the Bush:
He sent me to an old bark hut, / Inhabited by a greyhound slut, / Who put her fangs through my poor fut, / And, snarling, off she ran.1905, Banjo Paterson, Old Bush Songs, page 42:
1 more example
‘Like a slut and all the dogs mounting her.’1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 17:
Our little girl Susan is a most admirable slut, and pleases us mightily, doing more service than both the others and deserves wages better.1661–1669 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “(please specify the entry date)”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume (please specify |volume=I to X), London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893–1899, →OCLC:
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Obsolete A rag soaked in a flammable substance and lit for illumination.
Etymology From Middle English slutt, slutte, slute (“a dirty or slovenly person, usually a woman, scullery maid; messy animal to prepare as food; slush, mud”), probably from Old English *slȳte (“sleet”), from Proto-West Germanic *slautijā, from Proto-Germanic *slautijǭ (“sleet, hail”), related to Proto-West Germanic *slaut (“puddle, ditch”). Compare Dutch slodder and slet, dialectal Swedish slata (“idle woman”), Norwegian sludd (“sleet”), and the dialectal Norwegian slutr (“sleet, impure liquid”). Doublet of sleet.
1
Vulgar To wear slutty clothing or makeup, or otherwise behave in a slutty manner.
In an effort to avoid any spontaneous slutting out, I give myself a stern look in the mirror. "You can make out with him, but that's it," I tell my boy-crazed reflection.2009, Shauna Cross, Whip It, →ISBN:
2
Slang, Usually, Vulgar, With around To visit places frequented by men, with the intention of engaging in sexual intercourse by means of flirting.
Shirley, you slut around here again, and I swear to God I'll break your neck.1998, David Baldacci, The Winner:
The radicals are reluctant to admit that slutting around is a phase that most gay men go through, but not a permanent — what's that phrase? Oh, yes — "lifestyle choice."2001 January, Dan Savage, “Sluts Like Us”, in Out, volume 9, number 7, page 37: