slick

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /slɪk/ UK /slɪk/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
smooth and slippery; also clever or glib

The road was slick with rain and dangerous to drive.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · smooth and slippery; also... smooth slippery glossy glib clever polished sleek

Opposites

rough clumsy awkward

Word family

Derived forms slicklyslicknessslicker

Related forms sleek

Appears in

Tongue twisters (1)

See all

Six Slick Saplings
Six slick slim slippery slimy sleek slender sickly saplings.

Keep /sl/ together through slick, slim, slippery, slimy, sleek and slender. The start changes to /s/ without /l/ in sickly and saplings.

Simplified etymology

Slick is a Germanic word that originally meant “glossy” and may have existed in Old English, although it is not recorded until the Middle English period. The sense “plausible” appeared in the late 16th century, followed by “skilful” or “adroit” in the early 19th century. Sleek is a later variant, and slight is related through an earlier meaning “smooth.”

Etymology

From Middle English sliken ('to make smooth'), from Old English -slician, of Germanic origin; cognate with sleek.

slician Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# slick

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

## Meanings
1. smooth and slippery; also clever or glib

## Examples
- The road was slick with rain and dangerous to drive.

## Synonyms
- smooth
- slippery
- glossy
- glib
- clever
- polished
- sleek

## Antonyms
- rough
- clumsy
- awkward

## Derived Forms
- slickly
- slickness
- slicker

## Related Forms
- sleek

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: slician

## Etymology
From Middle English sliken ('to make smooth'), from Old English -slician, of Germanic origin; cognate with sleek.

## AI Etymology
Slick comes from Middle English sliken ('to make smooth'), from Old English -slician, of Germanic origin; cognate with sleek. The historical chain includes Old English slician. Older glosses in the chain include "to make smooth", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, slick is best read as borrowing, yielding an English adjective and noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a adjective and noun, with the sense "smooth and slippery; also clever or glib". English derivatives include slickly, slickness, and slicker; related forms include sleek. The result is an English adjective and noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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