slick
Americanadjective
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slicker,
comparative
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slickest
superlative
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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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slicks
plural
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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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slicks,
present (3rd person singular)
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slicked,
past participle, past
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slicking
present participle
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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
-
slickssimple
-
have slickedperfect
-
has slickedperfect
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am slickingprogressive
-
are slickingprogressive
-
is slickingprogressive
-
have been slickingperfect progressive
-
has been slickingperfect progressive
Past
-
slickedsimple
-
had slickedperfect
-
was slickingprogressive
-
were slickingprogressive
-
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:
McBurnie played a slick one-two with the increasingly dominant Gilmour, who had his shot saved.
From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026
It was nearly a half decade ago that Lincoln Riley, dressed in a slick blue suit and glossy cardinal tie, stood atop the Coliseum’s rooftop deck, grinning as he gazed out across the field below.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
“It’ll be slick as a car hood from the slime on their bellies,” Walters says.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
Steinem could express her outrage directly and profanely, or wrapped in a slick and quick-witted savviness.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
A slick smirk crept onto Mr. Munch's face.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
Large stretches of the island's shoreline appear affected and "additional oil slicks extend far out to sea, further polluting and damaging this protected marine ecosystem", Noelle said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
On local Telegram chat groups, people shared photos of oil slicks in the sea, black puddles on the road and stray animals covered in oily droplets.
From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2026
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
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
“Happiness is slicker, bouncier. Joy is wider, deeper.”
From Salon ● Aug. 3, 2025
O'Malley was the slicker of the two on the feet, landing a variety of damaging strikes including punch combinations and a huge knee.
From BBC ● Mar. 10, 2024
“Stash it in your slicker and let’s get on with it.”
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
“I’m not the richest candidate, I’m not the slickest candidate, but I am the guy that’s got you,” Becerra said, rallying supporters in Los Angeles on Saturday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2026
But Alisson Cassiano would surely prefer not to be remembered for scoring one of football's slickest own goals.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
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
What difference has the world’s biggest and slickest art fair organizer made?
From New York Times ● Oct. 20, 2022
“That’s the slickest working thing I’ve ever seen. You’re right. If I ever get a monkey in it, he would sure be a caught monkey, wouldn’t he?”
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
Eventually, Giuliani appears in the flesh, his blond hair slicked back like his father’s.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 18, 2026
In the past year, performative masc competitions have appeared across the country, with lesbians — hair slicked back and carabiners dangling from their Carhartt jeans — showing off in front of leering crowds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 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
Willcox, who by now had been lent a sweater and some pants, insisted there had never been any bombs, only oxygen canisters and the diesel fuel that now slicked the water in the harbor.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
Their hair is slicked back like a freshly raked garden.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
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
He was once described as looking like a mad scientist, though he began slicking his hair down after that.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2021
He felt the sweat beading on his forehead, slicking his hands; he was terrified to keep going.
From "The Maze Runner" by James Dashner
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.
