slippery slope

American  

noun

• slippery slopes
  plural

1. a dangerous and irreversible course.

   the slippery slope from narcotics to prison.

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slippery slope Idioms  

1. A dangerous course, one that leads easily to catastrophe, as in He's on a slippery slope, compromising his values to please both the bosses and the union. This metaphoric expression alludes to traversing a slick hillside, in constant danger of falling. [Mid-1900s]

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• slippery slopes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of slippery slope

First recorded in 1985–90

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

slippery slope

“I think canceling it or pulling it, just because we don’t necessarily agree with an element of it, it’s a slippery slope from there,” he told LBC radio in the U.K.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

When children’s mental health and cognitive development are at risk, implying that screens can be good in some circumstances is a slippery slope toward a worse future.

From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026

It’s also a slippery slope: once you get used to having a little more cash in your bank account, it can be tempting to lower the percentage even further.

From MarketWatch ● May 30, 2026

“That is a slippery slope of theming that can go wrong really fast,” she adds.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 4, 2026

Insurgent capitalism frightened the government of North Korea, which fretted publicly about a slippery slope to regime change and catastrophe.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden