What does slavered mean?
Slavered is an uncommon word with a vivid, physical meaning: it describes drooling, the emission of saliva, or a person or animal covered in saliva. The form can function as the past tense and past participle of the verb slaver, as in “the dog slavered across the floor,” or as an adjective, as in “a slavered mouth.” It is most often encountered in descriptions of animals but can apply to people, usually with an unpleasant or contemptuous implication. A rarer extended meaning concerns speaking or writing volubly, with too much fluency or at excessive length. Although generally intelligible, slavered is more emphatic and less neutral than drooled. Its conspicuous vocabulary makes it effective in literary description, particularly when the writer intends to evoke bodily excess, weariness, or uncontrolled speech.
To emit saliva or drool; more rarely, to speak or write with excessive fluency.
"The hound slavered over its water bowl."
Usually encountered in the past tense or past participle. The sense of speaking or writing volubly is uncommon.
Covered with saliva; drooling.
"He wiped his slavered chin with the back of his hand."
Normally used predicatively and often applied to animals.
Slavered can describe what a thirsty dog does—or how someone talks far too fluently.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does slavered come from?
Slavered is the past tense and past participle of slaver, with the regular English ending -ed. Slaver is recorded in Middle English and came through Middle Dutch; related forms connect historically with the vocabulary of slavery and servitude. Its precise development into the modern saliva-related and voluble-speech senses is not fully transparent, although both senses centre on an uncontrolled flow of saliva or words.
Related word forms
How slavered is actually used
This is an uncommon and somewhat graphic word. The adjective is normally used predicatively, as in “the slavered hound,” while the verb form is chiefly remembered for its literal sense of drooling; its use for voluble speech is much rarer.