slither
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to slide down or along a surface, especially unsteadily, from side to side, or with some friction or noise.
The box slithered down the chute.
-
to go or walk with a sliding motion.
The snake slithered across the path.
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
-
to move or slide or cause to move or slide unsteadily, as on a slippery surface
-
(intr) to travel with a sliding motion
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of slither
1150–1200; Middle English slitheren, variant of sliddren, Old English slid ( e ) rian, frequentative of slīdan to slide; see -er 6
Explanation
Slither means to move in a sideways motion, usually silently. Snakes, of all kinds, slither, from the original snake in the Garden of Eden, to that untrustworthy-looking individual who approaches you in the street. Slither comes from the Old English term slidrian, meaning "to slide on a loose or gravely surface." While slide is in some ways similar to slither, it lacks its truly nasty moral and physical associations. It's a safe bet that slitherers do not have your best interests at heart.
Vocabulary lists containing slither
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
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Hot to Trot: Animal Ambulation
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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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.
A serpent might slither out during the winter if there’s a warm spell to get a bit of sunshine, said Greg Pauly, curator of herpetology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 1, 2026
Still, he held on to a slither of hope.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
Mystified, he wanders the dank halls of their rented palazzo and the fetid alleyways of the “pestilential city” where canal waters slither past like “a fat, grey-green worm.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 9, 2025
But a slither of fallopian tube was accidentally left, prompting an ovary regrowth only found in an unrelated ultrasound scan.
From BBC • Jul. 20, 2024
Behind him, he heard the soft metallic slither of the lordling's ringmail, the rustle of leaves, and muttered curses as reaching branches grabbed at his longsword and tugged on his splendid sable cloak.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
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.
