To spread a substance thickly or generously over something, or cover something in that way.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- slather with butter
- slather sunscreen on
- slather in sauce
On the page
He slathered the warm bread with butter before handing her a slice.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- slather
- Past tense
- slathered
- Past participle
- slathered
- Present participle
- slathering
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- slather
- Present continuous
- am/is/are slathering
- Present perfect
- have/has slathered
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been slathering
- Past
- slathered
- Past continuous
- was/were slathering
- Past perfect
- had slathered
- Past perfect continuous
- had been slathering
- Future
- will slather
- Future continuous
- will be slathering
- Future perfect
- will have slathered
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been slathering
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated prose. Lexical Type: Word. Forms: slather; slathers; slathered; slathered; slathering Commonness: moderately common (editorial estimate; not a corpus frequency statistic). Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1; numbered fields keep each relevant meaning separate. Research distinction: MW thick/lavish spreading and Collins informal register; two object constructions are not split into artificial senses. Writing functions: precise action, characterization. Third-person singular: slathers.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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