slick

American  

[slik] / slɪk /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Etymology

Origin of slick

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

Explanation

Slick means smooth or slippery, but it can also describe a smooth, effortless style. How did that Girl Scout talk you into buying so many boxes of cookies? It must have been her slick sales pitch. A great salesman is often described as slick — he or she seems more like a friend than someone trying to sell you something. Things that are smooth and glossy can also be called slick, like the surface of a glass table or an icy patch on the sidewalk. Slick is also a verb, meaning "to smooth," like when you slick back your hair. The oldest meaning of slick is shiny, and in the 1620s, it was even the name of a kind of cosmetic.

Example Sentences

Slowly but surely, he broke down picking the hook, separating verses using slick spacing, and adding layers of intricately placed sounds.

From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026

Fans who have long mourned F1’s transformation from hell-for-leather test of nerve into slick entertainment product see this as merely the latest in a string of measures to sanitize the sport.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

The time to make refined, slick architecture is over.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026

Gilhooly sees Carney as a "slick guy" comfortable in "nice suits."

From Barron's • Apr. 11, 2026

Now we crept past the slick tiles of the Turkish bath.

From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck

Related Words

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