slipper
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
adjective
noun
-
a light shoe of some soft material, for wearing around the house
-
a woman's evening or dancing shoe
-
informal cricket a fielder in the slip position
verb
Other Word Forms
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.
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
Spiny and slipper lobsters, particularly targeted to supply more tourist-intensive islands, were also considered depleted.
From Science Daily • Nov. 16, 2024
In fact...Jinny leaned over and fitted the old slipper onto her own callused foot, and it slid on just so.
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
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.
