city slicker

American  

noun

Often Disparaging.

1. a term used to refer to a worldly, nattily dressed city dweller.

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city slicker British  

noun

1. a person with the sophistication often attributed to city people

2. a smooth tricky untrustworthy person

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Sensitive Note

This term is often used with disparaging intent, implying that the city dweller is slick in a deceptive way, or ill-suited to a rural environment.

Etymology

Origin of city slicker

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25

Example Sentences

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

James was dirty and grumpy — a city slicker trying to learn to manage all the complex human and animal needs that suddenly had become his responsibility.

From New York Times • Jul. 31, 2020

Metal-head friends Wayne and Garth sell their basement cable-access TV show to a city slicker.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 2, 2019

The country boy in me dreamed of becoming a city slicker.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 2, 2019

Being a city slicker, he’d no doubt turn tail and beat it back to Terre Haute when we started bleeding out the first hog.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck