silken

[sil-kuh n]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR silken ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

made of silk.

like silk in smoothness, softness, glossiness, or delicateness.

clad in silk.

smoothly persuasive or ingratiating; mellifluous: the senator's silken oratory.

elegant; luxurious.

Origin of silken

before 900; Middle English; Old English seolcen. See silk, -en²

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

Related Words for silken

silky, satiny, lustrous, satin, glassy, glistening, polished, shiny

Examples from the Web for silken

Contemporary Examples of silken

One is the “silken cord” solution favored by Ottoman sultans.
Dictators' Sons, From Egypt to Libya, Are Doomed
Stephen Kinzer
February 9, 2011

Historical Examples of silken

Then she loosed a pen-knife with a blade as thin as paper from her silken girdle.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various
An arm, clothed in some silken material, encircled his throat.
The Film of Fear
Arnold Fredericks
An' yet thar's once at least when Red Dog shows it's got its silken side.
Faro Nell and Her Friends
Alfred Henry Lewis
The room, the furnishings, his silken robe, everything was strange.
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930
Various
A breed of silken creatures lurk and thrive In your contempt.
Browning's England
Helen Archibald Clarke

British Dictionary definitions for silken

silken

adjective

made of silk

resembling silk in smoothness or gloss

dressed in silk

soft and delicate

rare luxurious or elegant

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 silken

adj.

Old English seolcen "made of silk;" see silk + -en (2). Meaning "silk-like, soft and glossy" is from 1510s.