sleek

¹ American  

[sleek] / slik /

adjective

sleeker, sleekest

1. smooth or glossy, as hair, an animal, etc.

2. well-fed or well-groomed.

3. trim and graceful; finely contoured; streamlined.

   a sleek sports car.

4. smooth in manners, speech, etc.; suave.

5. cleverly or deceitfully skillful; slick.

   a sleek confidence man.

   Synonyms:

   slippery, shady, glib, shrewd, artful, smooth, refined, polished

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sleek ² American  

[sleek] / slik /

Also sleeken

verb (used with object)

1. to make sleek; smooth; slick.

   to sleek leather.

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sleek British  

/ sliːk /

adjective

1. smooth and shiny; polished

2. polished in speech or behaviour; unctuous

3. (of an animal or bird) having a shiny healthy coat or feathers

4. (of a person) having a prosperous appearance

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verb

1. to make smooth and glossy, as by grooming, etc

2. (usually foll by over) to cover (up), as by making more agreeable; gloss (over)

Other Word Forms

• sleeker noun
• sleekly adverb
• sleekness noun
• sleeky adjective

Etymology

Origin of sleek¹

First recorded in 1580–90; variant of slick

Origin of sleek²

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English sleken, variant of slick

Example Sentences

It looked incredible to my 20-year-old mind: sleek, uniform, very put-together.

From Salon • Mar. 19, 2026

Sinners star Li Jun Li turned heads in a sleek swirled Gaurav Gupta creation.

From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026

“Get stares, not glares,” the billboard reads, with a glamour shot of a sleek, silver Afeela 1.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

Ukraine's newly installed defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov waltzed on stage like a stand-up comedian to take the mic in front of journalists in Kyiv as a sleek slideshow zoomed across a map of the country.

From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026

Unlike the other students, she didn’t get driven to school in a sleek black car.

From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi

Related Words

• glistening
• polished
• satin
• shiny
• silky