smut

 
Pronunciation: /smʌt/

noun

  • 1a small flake of soot or other dirt or a mark left by one: all those black smuts from the engine
  • 2 [mass noun] a fungal disease of cereals in which parts of the ear change to black powder: a few bad crop years with smut and drought and frost [count noun]: fungal infections such as the smuts
    • The fungi belong to Ustilago and other genera, order Ustilaginales, class Teliomycetes
  • 3 [mass noun] obscene or lascivious talk, writing, or pictures: porn, in his view, is far from being harmless smut

verb (smuts, smutting, smutted)

[with object] (often as adjective smutted)
  • 1mark with flakes or soot or other dirt: the smutted sky
  • 2infect (a plant) with smut: smutted wheat

Origin:

late Middle English (in the sense 'defile, corrupt, make obscene'): related to German schmutzen; compare with smudge1. The noun dates from the mid 17th century