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:
“That’s why when we saw ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ it was like when the glass slipper fits Cinderella.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 15, 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
For all its muddy cultural avenues left unexplored, though, it at least provides a slipper view of the ways the show represented “the inception of American shock culture,” as one producer accurately describes it.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2025
It is hard to have a different slipper after you wear them.
From New York Times ● Nov. 23, 2024
"Maybe Deirdre is the slipper thief!" she said.
From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene
In observing the Los Angeles Ballet at rehearsal, Claire Salinda distills the appeal of ballet core: How slippers and satin can make you feel more confident, secure and ordered in a chaotic world.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
This full-body scan is happening at a sci-fi-style clinic in Manchester city centre, with me wearing a dressing gown and hexagon-shaped rubber slippers.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
He rushed out of his house in shorts and slippers, calling his cousin on the way to come help.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 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
All visitors had to put on yellow slippers at the door, but Mrs. Sasaki’s made a special sound.
From "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" by Eleanor Coerr
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.
