What does blurting mean?
"Blurting" is the present participle and gerund of the verb "blurt," meaning to speak suddenly and without deliberation — to let words escape before thought or tact can intervene. A person caught blurting has typically revealed a secret, answered too soon, or voiced something they immediately wish they could take back. The word is informal in register and mildly negative in connotation, suggesting impulsiveness rather than malice; it is most often used in the fixed phrase "blurting out." The verb dates to around the 1570s, though its ultimate origin is obscure, possibly connected to imitative or expressive Germanic roots describing abrupt sounds. Because so much of social life depends on knowing what not to say, English has found enduring use for a word that names the moment the filter fails — making "blurting" both vividly descriptive and quietly instructive about human nature.
verbThe present participle and gerund of the verb "blurt": to utter suddenly and without deliberation, typically saying something that would better have been kept to oneself.
- To say something suddenly and impulsively, without thinking, often revealing something that was meant to be private or unsaid.
"She kept blurting out answers before the teacher had finished asking the questions."
"He couldn't help blurting out the surprise party plans the moment she walked in."
"'I quit!' she announced, blurting it out before she had time to reconsider."
Blurting is what your brain does when your filter clocked out early — and English has been catching people doing it since at least the 1500s.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of blurting
The verb "blurt" first appears in English in the latter half of the sixteenth century, around the 1570s. Its deeper origin is uncertain: lexicographers have suggested links to Dutch or other Low German forms meaning to utter abruptly, but no definitive ancestor is established, and some authorities treat it as expressive or imitative in origin — a word coined from the sound of sudden, uncontrolled speech. From this root come its straightforward derivatives "blurt," "blurts," and "blurted," with no widely attested cognates in modern English.
Related word forms
How blurting is actually used
"Blurting" carries a strongly informal register and usually implies a lapse of self-control or tact; the thing said is often regretted almost immediately. It almost always appears with the particle "out" ("blurting out"), though bare "blurting" occurs. It is used chiefly of speech, not writing.
Easily confused with blurting
"Blotting" means absorbing or drying liquid (as with blotting paper), while "blurting" means speaking suddenly and impulsively.