Edit: thank you for your comments, folks. I have my answers and appreciate you all’s help.
I’m writing a story with a character with dwarfism, but fantasy-style dwarves already exist in this world so I’d like another word for her.
I may change it though because idk much about dwarfism and don’t wanna risk her falling into any disrespectful stereotypes I’m not aware of.
The R word as a verb has a different emphasis than does the (adjectival) noun that is taboo. The emphasis difference is common among identically spelled pairs of verb/nouns. The noun almost always has emphasis on first syllable, e.g. [a] record (noun) versus [to] record (verb).
But yeah, some people are going to avoid it anyway, not least because it’s indistinguishable in text form, and I wouldn’t blame them.
I note that the M word (to belatedly drag myself back on topic) doesn’t work as a verb.