slippery
AdjectiveOpen English WordNet
Adjective (2)
- causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide“slippery sidewalks”“a slippery bar of soap”“the streets are still slippy from the rain”Synonyms: slippyOpposite nonslipperySimilar slipping, sliding, slithery, lubricious, slimed, nonstick, slickSee also smooth
- not to be trusted“how extraordinarily slippery a liar the camera is — James Agee”Synonyms: trickyOpposite trustworthySimilar untrustworthy, untrusty
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: See Slipper, adjective
1. Having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; allowing or causing anything to slip or move smoothly, rapidly, and easily upon the surface; smooth; glib; as, oily substances render things slippery.
2. Not affording firm ground for confidence; as, a slippery promise.
The slippery tops of human state.— Abraham Cowley
3. Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away.
The slippery god will try to loose his hold.— John Dryden
4. Liable to slip; not standing firm. William Shakespeare
5. Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant; fickle. “The slippery state of kings.” Sir John Denham
6. Uncertain in effect. Sir Roger L'Estrange
7. Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals. William Shakespeare
Slippery elm. Botany (a) An American tree (Ulmus fulva) with a mucilagenous and slightly aromatic inner bark which is sometimes used medicinally; also, the inner bark itself. (b) A malvaceous shrub (Fremontia Californica); — so called on the Pacific coast.
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54