slick
Americanadjective
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smooth and glossy; sleek.
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smooth in manners, speech, etc.; suave.
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sly; shrewdly adroit.
He's a slick customer, all right.
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ingenious; cleverly devised.
a slick plan to get out of work.
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slippery, especially from being covered with or as if with ice, water, or oil.
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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.
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Slang. wonderful; fantastic; first-rate.
noun
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a smooth or slippery place or spot or the substance causing it.
oil slick.
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Informal.
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a magazine printed on paper having a more or less glossy finish.
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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.
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such a magazine regarded as having a sophisticated, deftly executed, but shallow or glib literary content.
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any woodworking chisel having a blade more than 2 inches (5 centimeters) wide.
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any of various paddlelike tools for smoothing a surface.
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Automotive. a wide tire without a tread, used in racing.
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Military Slang. a helicopter.
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Metallurgy. a small trowel used for smoothing the surface of a mold.
adverb
verb (used with object)
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to make sleek or smooth.
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to use a slicker on (skins or hides).
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Informal. to spruce up; make smart or fine (usually followed byup ).
adjective
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flattering and glib
a slick salesman
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adroitly devised or executed
a slick show
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informal shrewd; sly
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informal superficially attractive
a slick publication
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smooth and glossy; slippery
noun
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a slippery area, esp a patch of oil floating on water
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a chisel or other tool used for smoothing or polishing a surface
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the tyre of a racing car that has worn treads
verb
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to make smooth or sleek
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informal (usually foll by up) to smarten or tidy (oneself)
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(often foll by up) to make smooth or glossy
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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slicksimple
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slickssimple
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have slickedperfect
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has slickedperfect
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am slickingprogressive
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are slickingprogressive
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is slickingprogressive
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have been slickingperfect progressive
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has been slickingperfect progressive
Past
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slickedsimple
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had slickedperfect
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was slickingprogressive
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were slickingprogressive
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had been slickingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing slick
The Skin I'm In
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"Harbor Me" by Jacqueline Woodson
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All The Feels: Touching Words For Textures
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He has since reinvented himself as a man of the people, melding a relaxed, folksy style with slick social media videos.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
After going close through more slick attacking play, England dismantled Argentina's scrum, allowing Earl to dot down before another melee broke out during the celebrations.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
With his slick black hair and steely gaze, he was practically born for the part.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
Mr. Okrent has an eye for the era’s characters, from relentless temperance crusaders to slick bootleggers and local citizens who regarded the complicated legal regime of prohibition as a novel business opportunity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
The branches were slick with rain, but they were sturdy and had knobby, flowered handholds.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
Oil has spilled into the Black Sea, creating slicks that cover several square miles of water.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 28, 2026
The threat to desalination plants posed by missiles or possible oil slicks should also not be underestimated.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 19, 2026
Altogether, the color, flavor and textural differentiation is incredibly varied: briny, oily, herbaceous sauce slicks the crisped salmon, with the crunchy leeks providing another dimension of flavor and texture.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2025
They also ran the opening 30 laps on treaded tires meant for wet conditions before switching to racing slicks.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 31, 2024
The floor was a gritty cement and gravel mix, sticky in places, spotted with what looked like oil slicks.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
Dr. Makary is slicker than a pharmaceutical salesman.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 3, 2026
Skiers have to re-don their skis at the top for one final climb, and Fatton was much slicker than Harrop, racing away to a lead she never looked likely to relinquish.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Mostly that has meant pretending to be a Real American by riding horses, going hunting or driving around in a pick-up to prove they aren’t some effete city slicker.
From Salon ● Nov. 23, 2025
The city slicker in the paddock wiping manure off his shoe was Mohammed “Mo” Amer, the Palestinian-Texan comedian behind Netflix‘s acclaimed comedy “Mo.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2025
The kids in this group look a lot slicker and more polished than Dad’s group.
From "Shine!" by J.J. and Chris Grabenstein
Back then, he walked into a humming, world championship–caliber operation, where everything had been optimized to the slickest, shiniest possible standards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
Sharp tactics and hard sells had some salesmen using the slickest of tricks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023
What difference has the world’s biggest and slickest art fair organizer made?
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2022
To avoid conviction, she hires Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer to help her dupe the public, media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by creating shocking headlines.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 4, 2022
“I know city slickers when I see ’em and them thar’s two of the slickest of ’em all.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Eventually, Giuliani appears in the flesh, his blond hair slicked back like his father’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
I started reaching for recipes that lived in that pocket: lemony chicken soup instead of creamy; brothy beans slicked with olive oil and garlic instead of something finished with cream.
From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2026
Undo the tight, slicked back bun and bring in halo dyed hair, dark eyeliner and the piercing she did herself on the inside of her upper lip.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 5, 2026
A childhood Liverpool fan, she used to run around the house in a replica shirt, her curly hair slicked back to resemble Spanish striker Fernando Torres.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025
I peer up into the unmasked face of Guillermo Garcia, who now looks like he just got out of the ocean, his black hair slicked back and dripping, a towel thrown over his shoulder.
From "I'll Give You the Sun" by Jandy Nelson
It's easy to see the oil slicking the surface and when I dip my hand in, it comes out streaked with oil.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
In winter, though, with black ice slicking the parking lot, he has no choice but to run the furnace.
From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2023
The season also provides more warmth, despite being largely set in a chilly New York spring at night, rainwater slicking the streets and reflecting the blurred lights of the city.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2022
A few months ago, I noticed that the part of my hairline I’d been avoiding, relaxing, pushing, hiding, slicking back my entire life had quietly overtaken my timeline: sideburns.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2021
Outside, a fine rain has started to fall, misting the glassy cars and slicking the black pavement.
From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
