slippery

C2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈslɪpəɹi/ See IPA manual

Freq #8241

Meanings

1

adj
causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide

Slippery sidewalks.
2

adj
not to be trusted

How extraordinarily slippery a liar the camera is- James Agee.
3

adj
Of a surface, having low friction, often due to being covered in a non-viscous liquid, and therefore hard to grip, hard to stand on without falling, etc.

Oily substances render things slippery.
4

adj
Evasive; difficult to pin down.

A slippery person.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · causing or tending to cause... slippy

2 adj · not to be trusted tricky

3 adj · of a surface, having low... greasy slick slimy slippyslitherywet

More glibberyglidderglidderylubriclubriciouslubricousslabberyslapeslidderslidderyslideyslidy

Opposites

adhesivenonslipnonslipperysticky

Word family

Forms slipperiness

Derived forms nonslipperyslipperilyslipperinessslopperyunslippery

Related forms slip

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

Tongue twisters (2)

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.
Six Slippery Snails
Six slippery snails slid slowly seaward.

Move directly from /s/ into /l/ in slippery, slid and slowly, and into /n/ in snails. Avoid inserting an extra vowel into those clusters.

Etymology

From Middle English slipperie, an extended form ( + -y) of Middle English slipper, sliper (“slippery”), from Old English slipor (“slippery”), from Proto-Germanic *slipraz (“smooth, slippery”), equivalent to slip + -er. Compare also Middle English slibbri, slubbri (“slippery”) borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German slibberich (“slippery”). Cognate with German schlüpfrig (“slippery”), Danish slibrig (“slippery”), Swedish slipprig (“slippery”).

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# slippery

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈslɪpəɹi/
**Frequency rank:** 8241

## Meanings
1. causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide
2. not to be trusted
3. Of a surface, having low friction, often due to being covered in a non-viscous liquid, and therefore hard to grip, hard to stand on without falling, etc.
4. Evasive; difficult to pin down.

## Examples
- Slippery sidewalks.
- How extraordinarily slippery a liar the camera is- James Agee.
- Oily substances render things slippery.
- A slippery person.

## Synonyms
- glibbery
- glidder
- gliddery
- lubric
- lubricious
- lubricous
- slabbery
- slape
- slidder
- sliddery
- slidey
- slidy

## Antonyms
- adhesive
- nonslip
- nonslippery
- sticky

## Derived Forms
- nonslippery
- slipperily
- slipperiness
- sloppery
- unslippery

## Related Forms
- slip

## Etymology
From Middle English slipperie, an extended form ( + -y) of Middle English slipper, sliper (“slippery”), from Old English slipor (“slippery”), from Proto-Germanic *slipraz (“smooth, slippery”), equivalent to slip + -er. Compare also Middle English slibbri, slubbri (“slippery”) borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German slibberich (“slippery”). Cognate with German schlüpfrig (“slippery”), Danish slibrig (“slippery”), Swedish slipprig (“slippery”).

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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