slick

[slik]

adjective

slicker, slickest 

1. smooth and glossy; sleek.

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

3. sly; shrewdly adroit.

   He's a slick customer, all right.

   Synonyms: superficial, shallow, glib, sharp, foxy, tricky, wily

4. ingenious; cleverly devised.

   a slick plan to get out of work.

5. slippery, especially from being covered with or as if with ice, water, or oil.

6. deftly executed and having surface appeal or sophistication, but shallow or glib in content; polished but superficial.

   a writer who has mastered every formula of slick fiction.

7. Slang.,  wonderful; fantastic; first-rate.

noun

1. a smooth or slippery place or spot or the substance causing it.

   oil slick.

2. Informal.

   1. a magazine printed on paper having a more or less glossy finish.

   2. such a magazine regarded as possessing qualities, as expensiveness, chic, and sophistication, that hold appeal for a particular readership, as one whose members enjoy or are seeking affluence.

   3. such a magazine regarded as having a sophisticated, deftly executed, but shallow or glib literary content.

3. any woodworking chisel having a blade more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) wide.

4. any of various paddlelike tools for smoothing a surface.

5. Automotive.,  a wide tire without a tread, used in racing.

6. Military Slang.,  a helicopter.

7. Metallurgy.,  a small trowel used for smoothing the surface of a mold.

adverb

1. smoothly; cleverly.

verb (used with object)

1. to make sleek or smooth.

2. to use a slicker on (skins or hides).

3. Informal.,  to spruce up; make smart or fine (usually followed byup ).

slick

/ slɪk /

adjective

1. flattering and glib

   a slick salesman

2. adroitly devised or executed

   a slick show

3. informal,  shrewd; sly

4. informal,  superficially attractive

   a slick publication

5. smooth and glossy; slippery

noun

1. a slippery area, esp a patch of oil floating on water

2. a chisel or other tool used for smoothing or polishing a surface

3. the tyre of a racing car that has worn treads

verb

1. to make smooth or sleek

2. informal,  (usually foll by up) to smarten or tidy (oneself)

3. (often foll by up) to make smooth or glossy

Other Word Forms

• slickly adverb
• slickness noun
• unslicked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slick¹

First recorded before 900 for the verb, 1350–1400 for the adjective; Middle English verb slicke(n), Old English (nīw)slīcod “(newly) polished”; Middle English adjective slik(e), slyk(e), from unrecorded Old English slice; cognate with dialectal Dutch sleek “even, smooth”; noun derivative of the verb or adjective; adverb derivative of the adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of slick¹

C14: probably of Scandinavian origin; compare Icelandic, Norwegian slikja to be or make smooth

Example Sentences

It sounds like a marketing pitch and the company's slick packaging promises "ancestral ingredients" and the "power of purple fruits from the forest".

Read more on BBC

Starting an Ireland game at full-back for the first time, Canberra-born Hansen starred in a slick Irish attack on his return from a foot injury with three tries inside the opening 30 minutes.

Read more on BBC

Vargas burst through a hole on the second play of the Bulldogs’ next drive for an 81-yard gain, slipping to the slick turf just before the goal line.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He spent two years walking across the state, built a slick organisation and fielded candidates in almost all 243 seats.

Read more on BBC

His record-breaking set up was quite typical: a Rose commuter bike with a flat bar and slick, 50 millimeter width tires, standard pressure.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• deft 
• glib 
• sharp 
• shrewd 
• skillful 
• sly 
• smooth 
• sophisticated