slipper
1 Americannoun
-
slippers
plural
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
-
a light shoe of some soft material, for wearing around the house
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a woman's evening or dancing shoe
-
informal cricket a fielder in the slip position
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of slipper1
First recorded in 1470–80; slip 1 + -er 1
Origin of slipper2
before 1000; Middle English sliper, Old English slipor; see slippery
Explanation
A slipper is a kind of indoor shoe that slips easily on and off your foot. You may prefer to walk around barefoot unless it's really cold, in which case you wear slippers. Slippers are cozy, and they're often warm too. A more old fashioned kind of slipper was a dress shoe that slipped on the foot, rather than being buckled or buttoned—like Cinderella's glass slipper. The word comes from the fact that you can slip a slipper on or off easily. It's related to the Old English slypescoh, literally "slip-shoe."
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:
But in the 1800s, no one could make a YouTube video accusing another creator of copying their slipper pattern, or debate English vs.
From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2026
On the table in front of us is a fleece work jacket, covered in dog hair, along with a large, stained teddy bear and a single, dirty, grey slipper.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
Powertrain Naturally aspirated liquid-cooled 90-degree V4 engine, 1,158-cc displacement, counter-rotating crankshaft, semi dry sump lubrication; six-speed manual transmission with straight-cut gears and multi-plate clutch, with slipper action on overrun; chain drive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 29, 2026
The coachman produced a pink box with a glass slipper inside, telling them: "I've come to find a princess."
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
Passing by in the evenings, we saw Haldar sitting alone, swatting moths with the sole of his slipper.
From "Interpreter of Maladies" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Only one man nabbed the plush slippers worn by Heinrich Himmler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
When her slippers kept slipping off, she removed them, gathered her sari and ran barefoot, pulling ahead to win the women's 30-60 category.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2026
They have all his awards and guitars and stuff and the velvet slippers he had on when the plane crashed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Drop too many heavy-hitters at once, and the viewer will be dizzy in seconds, watching cartoon ruby slippers dance in a circle around their head.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2026
She was a dumpy woman dressed in a blue cotton smock and bedroom slippers.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
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.
