Blurs

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /blɜːz/

Definitions

1. Causes something to lose sharpness or clarity, making details difficult to see or understand
2. Transforms a clear image or perception into a fuzzy or smudged form, reducing distinctness
3. Obscures the edges or outlines of an object or idea, leading to a lack of precision and definition

Etymology: The verb "blur" is a plain case of a word drifting from one sense to another. Its earliest ancestor meant "to make pale," and it still carried that sense in Middle English, when "bleren" meant to dim or cloud the eyes. Old English "blerian" survives in a compound meaning "made bare" or "made bald," showing that the core idea was of something losing its colour or surface. The word "blurs" is simply the third-person singular form of the verb. The modern sense of smudging an image came later, as "blear" became "blur" in English. The change from "blear" to "blur" is probably an alteration, and it shifted the focus from the pale, watery look of tired eyes to the smearing of marks on a surface. In that way, a word once about paleness ended up describing the loss of sharp edges in vision and print.

Synonyms: smudges, fades, obscures, clouds, muddles

Antonyms: clarifies, sharpens, defines, focuses, highlights