slatter

See also: slätter, slåtter, and Slatter

English

Etymology

From English dialectal slat (“to throw or dash about”), from Middle English sclatten, skleatten (“to flap”), from Old English slǣtan (“to sleat, slate”) and/or Old Norse sletta (“to slap, dash”) +‎ -er.

Verb

slatter (third-person singular simple present slatters, present participle slattering, simple past and past participle slattered) (intransitive)

1. To be awkward, careless, or negligent, especially with regard to dress and neatness.
2. To be wasteful.
   • 1768, J[ohn] Ray, “[A Collection of English Words Not Generally Used.] South and East Country Words.”, in A Compleat Collection of English Proverbs: […], 4th edition, London: […] W. Otridge, […], →OCLC, page 87:

     A ſoſſe-bangle; a ſluttiſh, ſlattering, lazy VVench, a ruſtic VVord, only uſed by the Vulgar.

Derived terms

• slattery
• slattern

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “slatter”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Anagrams

• Stalter, Statler, rattles, starlet, startle