lubricity

[ loo-bris-i-tee ]

/ luˈbrɪs ɪ ti /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lubricity ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural lu·bric·i·ties.

oily smoothness, as of a surface; slipperiness.

ability to lubricate; capacity for lubrication: the wonderful lubricity of this new oil.

instability; shiftiness; fleeting nature: the lubricity of fame and fortune.

lewdness; lustfulness: lasciviousness; salaciousness.

something that arouses lasciviousness, especially pornography.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

lubrication, lubricator, lubricatory, lubricious, lubriciously, lubricity, lubricous, lubritorium, lubumbashi, lubyanka, luca giordano

Origin of lubricity

1485–95; earlier lubrycyte lewdness < Medieval Latin lubricitās lechery, Late Latin: slipperiness. See lubric, -ity

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lubricity

He is teres et rotundas; strokes fly from the lubricity of his polish, and the shiftings of his circular formation.
Tomlinsoniana|Edward Bulwer-Lytton
A little more of this lubricity and there will have to be a new and resolute sifting at the fords.
Judges and Ruth|Robert A. Watson
To be sure he had for a time captured the ear of a few of our officers who were misled by his lubricity and perpetual smiles.
The Secrets of a Kuttite|Edward O. Mousley
Nor can I see the object of modernising the "Stomach Dance," save to impart an extra dose of lubricity into the subject.
Oscar Wilde|Leonard Cresswell Ingleby

A young constitution still resisted the inroads of lubricity.
The Magic Skin|Honore de Balzac

British Dictionary definitions for lubricity

lubricity

/ (luːˈbrɪsɪtɪ) /

noun

formal, or literary lewdness or salaciousness

rare smoothness or slipperiness

capacity to lubricate

Word Origin for lubricity

C15 (lewdness), C17 (slipperiness): from Old French lubricité, from Medieval Latin lubricitās, from Latin, from lūbricus slippery

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lubricity

lubricity

late 15c., "lasciviousness," from Middle French lubricité or directly from Latin lubricitatem (nominative lubricitas), from lubricus "slippery" (see lubricant (adj.)). Sense of "oiliness, smoothness" is from 1540s; figurative sense of "shiftiness" is from 1610s.