oily
Americanadjective
-
soaked in or smeared with oil or grease
-
consisting of, containing, or resembling oil
-
flatteringly servile or obsequious
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of oily
Explanation
Oily things are greasy, slippery, or covered with oil — think a bowl of oily pasta or the oily garage floor after you've been tinkering with your motorcycle's engine. Anything containing oil, covered in oil, or resembling oil is oily. A batch of muffins might taste weirdly oily when you use too much butter, and the rags lying around a car repair shop are mostly black and oily. Your brother's hair will probably be pretty oily after he refuses to wash it for a month. Since the sixteenth century, oily has also had the figurative meaning of "insincerely flattering or slick," like an oily car salesman.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Videos posted to social media have shown apocalyptic scenes of a burning liquid oozing down the street, and the persistent smoke has prompted complaints of a “black rain” that leaves an oily residue.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
These targets can be achieved by eating more oily fish, such as salmon or mackerel, or through supplementation where needed.
From Science Daily • Dec. 9, 2025
“It just felt weird. Just like oily, slippery,” forward Rui Hachimura said Friday morning.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 28, 2025
Walker agrees and likens it to the fact you can't remove an oily or dirty mark from clothes with just water, you need detergent too.
From BBC • Oct. 21, 2025
It was oily of me, but I had no choice.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
