slippery
Use Slippery in a sentence
ə adjective, slip·per·i·er, slip·per·i·est.
1.
tending or liable to cause slipping or sliding, as ice, oil, a wet surface, etc.: a slippery road.
2.
tending to slip from the hold or grasp or from position: a slippery rope.
3.
likely to slip away or escape: slippery prospects.
4.
not to be depended on; fickle; shifty, tricky, or deceitful.
5.
unstable or insecure, as conditions: a slippery situation.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To slippery
00:10
Slippery
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a gadget; dingus; thingumbob. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
slippery (ˈslɪpərɪ, -prɪ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —adj | |
| 1. | causing or tending to cause objects to slip: a slippery road |
| 2. | liable to slip from the grasp, a position, etc |
| 3. | not to be relied upon; cunning and untrustworthy: a slippery character |
| 4. | (esp of a situation) liable to change; unstable |
| 5. | slippery slope a course of action that will lead to disaster or failure |
| [C16: probably coined by Coverdale to translate German schlipfferig in Luther's Bible (Psalm 35:6); related to Old English slipor slippery] | |
| 'slipperily | |
| —adv | |
| 'slipperiness | |
| —n | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
slippery
1530s, from slip (v.) (cf. O.E. slipor "slippery"). Metaphoric sense of "deceitful" is first recorded 1550s; slippery slope first attested 1951.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Cite This Source
Example sentences
So our crew ditched their vehicles and walked back to camp on foot, crossing the river on a slippery log.
If you want to elevate a brain scan to social commentary, the meaning of the scan itself becomes slippery.
We are frequently asked how to correct a slippery wooden tread.
SA should really be careful about this slippery trend to preserve their credibility in these discussion about sustainability.
Nearby Words
Copyright © 2013 Dictionary.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
