What does blurted mean?
"Blurted" is the past tense of "blurt," a verb meaning to speak suddenly and without deliberation, typically letting slip something one meant to keep quiet or saying something impulsive and indiscreet. In everyday English it nearly always takes the form "blurted out," as when a child blurts out a gift's hiding place or a nervous candidate blurts out an unfiltered opinion. The word's connotations are informal and mildly negative or comic: what is blurted is unpolished, unrehearsed, and often regrettable a moment later. The verb itself is of uncertain origin but is generally thought to be echoic or imitative in nature, coined around the early seventeenth century to mimic the sound of speech bursting forth. Its enduring usefulness lies precisely in capturing that split-second failure of restraint — the moment when honesty, excitement, or nerves override social judgment and words escape faster than thought.
verbPast tense and past participle of "blurt": to utter something suddenly and without careful thought, often revealing information one intended to keep secret or saying something tactless.
- To say something suddenly and impulsively, without premeditation or regard for consequences.
- To reveal a secret or private information unintentionally by speaking before one can stop oneself.
"She blurted out the answer before the teacher had finished asking the question."
"He blurted out her surprise party plans just hours before the guests arrived."
"Nervous in the interview, she blurted that she'd actually hated her previous job."
"Blurt" is likely an imitation of the very thing it describes — the sound of words bursting out of someone's mouth before their brain can stop them.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of blurted
"Blurt" first appears in English around the early seventeenth century. Its exact origin is unknown, but lexicographers have long considered it imitative or echoic in character — a word coined to sound like the sudden, explosive utterance it describes. It has no known cognates in other languages and stands largely alone within English, having given rise only to its own inflected forms and the noun "blurt."
Related word forms
How blurted is actually used
"Blurted" carries an informal register and usually implies a loss of self-control or discretion; what is blurted is typically tactless, premature, or secret. It almost always appears with the particle "out" ("blurted out"), though the bare verb also occurs.
Easily confused with blurted
"Blurbed" means described in a short promotional summary (a blurb), while "blurted" means spoken suddenly without thinking.