slick
Americanadjective
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slicker,
comparative
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slickest
superlative
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smooth and glossy; sleek.
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smooth in manners, speech, etc.; suave.
-
sly; shrewdly adroit.
He's a slick customer, all right.
-
ingenious; cleverly devised.
a slick plan to get out of work.
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slippery, especially from being covered with or as if with ice, water, or oil.
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deftly executed and having surface appeal or sophistication, but shallow or glib in content; polished but superficial.
a writer who has mastered every formula of slick fiction.
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Slang. wonderful; fantastic; first-rate.
noun
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slicks
plural
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a smooth or slippery place or spot or the substance causing it.
oil slick.
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Informal.
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a magazine printed on paper having a more or less glossy finish.
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such a magazine regarded as possessing qualities, as expensiveness, chic, and sophistication, that hold appeal for a particular readership, as one whose members enjoy or are seeking affluence.
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such a magazine regarded as having a sophisticated, deftly executed, but shallow or glib literary content.
-
-
any woodworking chisel having a blade more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) wide.
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any of various paddlelike tools for smoothing a surface.
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Automotive. a wide tire without a tread, used in racing.
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Military Slang. a helicopter.
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Metallurgy. a small trowel used for smoothing the surface of a mold.
adverb
verb (used with object)
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slicks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
slicked,
past participle, past
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slicking
present participle
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to make sleek or smooth.
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to use a slicker on (skins or hides).
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Informal. to spruce up; make smart or fine (usually followed byup ).
adjective
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flattering and glib
a slick salesman
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adroitly devised or executed
a slick show
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informal shrewd; sly
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informal superficially attractive
a slick publication
-
smooth and glossy; slippery
noun
-
a slippery area, esp a patch of oil floating on water
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a chisel or other tool used for smoothing or polishing a surface
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the tyre of a racing car that has worn treads
verb
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to make smooth or sleek
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informal (usually foll by up) to smarten or tidy (oneself)
-
(often foll by up) to make smooth or glossy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slicksimple
-
slickssimple
-
have slickedperfect
-
has slickedperfect
-
am slickingprogressive
-
are slickingprogressive
-
is slickingprogressive
-
have been slickingperfect progressive
-
has been slickingperfect progressive
Past
-
slickedsimple
-
had slickedperfect
-
was slickingprogressive
-
were slickingprogressive
-
had been slickingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of slick
First recorded before 900 for the verb, 1350–1400 for the adjective; Middle English verb slicke(n), Old English (nīw)slīcod “(newly) polished”; Middle English adjective slik(e), slyk(e), from unrecorded Old English slice; cognate with dialectal Dutch sleek “even, smooth”; noun derivative of the verb or adjective; adverb derivative of the adjective
Explanation
Slick means smooth or slippery, but it can also describe a smooth, effortless style. How did that Girl Scout talk you into buying so many boxes of cookies? It must have been her slick sales pitch. A great salesman is often described as slick — he or she seems more like a friend than someone trying to sell you something. Things that are smooth and glossy can also be called slick, like the surface of a glass table or an icy patch on the sidewalk. Slick is also a verb, meaning "to smooth," like when you slick back your hair. The oldest meaning of slick is shiny, and in the 1620s, it was even the name of a kind of cosmetic.
Vocabulary lists containing slick
The Skin I'm In
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"Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson
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All The Feels: Touching Words For Textures
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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.
See Examples For:
A ruthless blend of silky flicks and slick off-the-ball movement that saw a dazed City caught several frames behind.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Social-media users are savaging promotions depicting unnaturally regular greens, shrimp like O-rings, unhealthily slick noodles and stippled chicken.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
“It’ll be slick as a car hood from the slime on their bellies,” Walters says.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
“There is only around 5% chance of rain rates high enough to cause minor/urban flooding in L.A. County, but roads could become slick and dangerous due to the buildup of oil after many dry months.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026
The dewy grass is slick under your sneakers.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Large stretches of the island's shoreline appear affected and "additional oil slicks extend far out to sea, further polluting and damaging this protected marine ecosystem", Noelle said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Oil has spilled into the Black Sea, creating slicks that cover several square miles of water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
The threat to desalination plants posed by missiles or possible oil slicks should also not be underestimated.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026
And Hamilton justified the decision with a series of excellent, improvisational overtaking moves to rise to 13th place before becoming the first driver to stop for slicks on lap 11, one before Piastri.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2025
In the night, you couldn’t even see the oil slicks on the water.
From "Ship Breaker" by Paolo Bacigalupi
Dr. Makary is slicker than a pharmaceutical salesman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
Skiers have to re-don their skis at the top for one final climb, and Fatton was much slicker than Harrop, racing away to a lead she never looked likely to relinquish.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Mostly that has meant pretending to be a Real American by riding horses, going hunting or driving around in a pick-up to prove they aren’t some effete city slicker.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2025
In one number, Swinton, who goes glossy-eyed to show the cracks in her high-fashion veneer, poses in a transparent rain slicker while bleating raw, yowling noises that blend with the despairing strings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024
“The sooner, the better. I noticed a squirrel having an upside-down feast on feeder number eight. We need to put an end to that. A slicker surface might do the trick.-”
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
Back then, he walked into a humming, world championship–caliber operation, where everything had been optimized to the slickest, shiniest possible standards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
“Polite Society” doesn’t need the slickest fight choreography or the most innovative plot devices or the zingiest lines to make its combo platter work, either.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 27, 2023
What difference has the world’s biggest and slickest art fair organizer made?
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2022
Liz Truss has acknowledged that she is not the slickest media performer and what some senior Tories describe as her "wooden" style could impact on her prospects.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2022
“That’s the slickest working thing I’ve ever seen. You’re right. If I ever get a monkey in it, he would sure be a caught monkey, wouldn’t he?”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Eventually, Giuliani appears in the flesh, his blond hair slicked back like his father’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
A childhood Liverpool fan, she used to run around the house in a replica shirt, her curly hair slicked back to resemble Spanish striker Fernando Torres.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025
On this afternoon, he is dressed in black, auburn hair slicked back.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2025
Willcox, who by now had been lent a sweater and some pants, insisted there had never been any bombs, only oxygen canisters and the diesel fuel that now slicked the water in the harbor.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
Another time I slicked the rim of Gay’s travel mug with dish soap.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
It's easy to see the oil slicking the surface and when I dip my hand in, it comes out streaked with oil.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
In winter, though, with black ice slicking the parking lot, he has no choice but to run the furnace.
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2023
The season also provides more warmth, despite being largely set in a chilly New York spring at night, rainwater slicking the streets and reflecting the blurred lights of the city.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2022
He was once described as looking like a mad scientist, though he began slicking his hair down after that.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2021
Outside, a fine rain has started to fall, misting the glassy cars and slicking the black pavement.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
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