sleek1
[sleek]
- smooth or glossy, as hair, an animal, etc.
- well-fed or well-groomed.
- trim and graceful; finely contoured; streamlined: a sleek sports car.
- smooth in manners, speech, etc.; suave.
- cleverly or deceitfully skillful; slick: a sleek confidence man.
Show More
Origin of sleek1
First recorded in 1580–90; variant of slick1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for sleek on Thesaurus.com5. smooth, suave.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sleeker
Contemporary Examples
Sleeker, thinner, lighter, tinnier—what exactly is the iPad Mini?
Other designers, such as Joseph Altuzarra, prefer a sleeker shearling.
Amazon's new wireless reading device is sleeker, faster—and will even tell you a bedtime story.
The computers were sleeker, the machines were less noisy, the lights were more blinding.
Historical Examples
He embarrasses us, as sleeker individuals of the herd and hive.
Child and CountryWill Levington Comfort
By consequence they are larger and longer and sleeker than their working sisters.
What Is Man? And Other StoriesMark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
These dogs were larger and sleeker than the other animals of the village.
Triple SpiesRoy J. Snell
For three days he settled in their neighbourhood, growing each day sleeker and more gorgeous.
"Wee Tim'rous Beasties"Douglas English
But somehow thenceforth the name of that dog was never mentioned, and his brother led a more luxurious, a sleeker life than ever.
sleek
- smooth and shiny; polished
- polished in speech or behaviour; unctuous
- (of an animal or bird) having a shiny healthy coat or feathers
- (of a person) having a prosperous appearance
Show More
- to make smooth and glossy, as by grooming, etc
- (usually foll by over) to cover (up), as by making more agreeable; gloss (over)
Show More
Word Origin
C16: variant of slick
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 sleeker
sleek
adj.
1580s, variant of Middle English slike (see slick (adj.)). Originally of healthy-looking animal hair; applied to persons 1630s, with sense of "plump and smooth-skinned." Figurative meaning "slick, fawning, flattering" is from 1590s.
Show More
sleek
v.
"make sleek," mid-15c., a variant of slick (v.). Related: Sleeked; sleeking.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper