silky

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈsɪlki/ UK /ˈsɪlki/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
smooth, soft, and glossy like silk

The cat's silky fur gleamed in the afternoon sun.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · smooth, soft, and glossy... silken smooth soft glossy lustrous sleek

Opposites

coarse rough scratchy

Word family

Forms silkiness

Derived forms silkinesssilkily

Related forms silk silken silklike

Etymology

From silk (from Old English seolc, ultimately from Latin sericum via Greek serikos) plus the adjectival suffix -y.

seolc Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# silky

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈsɪlki/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈsɪlki/

## Meanings
1. smooth, soft, and glossy like silk

## Examples
- The cat's silky fur gleamed in the afternoon sun.

## Synonyms
- silken
- smooth
- soft
- glossy
- lustrous
- sleek

## Antonyms
- coarse
- rough
- scratchy

## Derived Forms
- silkiness
- silkily

## Related Forms
- silk
- silken
- silklike

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: seolc

## Etymology
From silk (from Old English seolc, ultimately from Latin sericum via Greek serikos) plus the adjectival suffix -y.

## AI Etymology
Silky comes from silk (from Old English seolc, ultimately from Latin sericum via Greek serikos) plus the adjectival suffix -y. The historical chain includes Old English seolc. Morphologically, silky is best read as suffixal formation and borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "smooth, soft, and glossy like silk". English derivatives include silkiness and silkily; related forms include silk, silken, and silklike. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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