sleek

[sleek]

adjective, sleek·er, sleek·est.

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.

Origin of sleek

First recorded in 1580–90; variant of slick¹

Related formssleek·ly, adverbsleek·ness, noun

Synonyms for sleek

5. smooth, suave.

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

Related Words for sleeker

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

Examples from the Web for sleeker

Contemporary Examples of sleeker

Sleeker, thinner, lighter, tinnier—what exactly is the iPad Mini?
Apple Rolls Out Thinner, Smaller, iPad Mini
Matthew DeLuca
October 23, 2012
Other designers, such as Joseph Altuzarra, prefer a sleeker shearling.
New York Fashion Week: Top-Trends Roundup
Robin Givhan
February 17, 2012
Amazon's new wireless reading device is sleeker, faster—and will even tell you a bedtime story.
Meet the Kindle 2
Sara Nelson
February 9, 2009
The computers were sleeker, the machines were less noisy, the lights were more blinding.
First Day Out of Prison
John Forté
January 26, 2009

Historical Examples of sleeker

He embarrasses us, as sleeker individuals of the herd and hive.
Child and Country
Will Levington Comfort
By consequence they are larger and longer and sleeker than their working sisters.
What Is Man? And Other Stories
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
These dogs were larger and sleeker than the other animals of the village.
Triple Spies
Roy 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.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. XII, No. 28. July, 1873.
Various

British Dictionary definitions for sleeker

sleek

adjective

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

verb (tr)

to make smooth and glossy, as by grooming, etc

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

Derived Formssleekly, adverbsleekness, nounsleeky, adjective

Word Origin for sleek

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.

sleek

"make sleek," mid-15c., a variant of slick (v.). Related: Sleeked; sleeking.