slippery Definition
slip·pery (slip′ər ē, slip′rē)
adjective -·peri·er, -·peri·est
- causing or liable to cause sliding or slipping, as a wet, waxed, or greasy surface
- tending to slip away, as from a grasp
- not reliable or trustworthy; deceitful
- subject to change a slippery situation
- Obsolete immoral
Etymology: altered < ME sliper, slippery < OE slipor, akin to MHG slupferic: for IE base see slip
slippery Related Forms
slippery Synonyms
slippery
modif.
slippery Usage Examples
Preposition: as
eel: Wily as foxes, slippery as eels, they seek to slither out from under justice Society colludes.
Adjective complement with noun phrase
make: There had been a lot of rain on the Saturday, which made the hills very slippery.
Modifies a noun
- slope: Scotland has started on the slippery slope toward tuition fees.
- elm: Whenever there are symptoms of gastro intestinal distress, I think first of slippery elm.
- descent: Another slippery descent followed, during which Ralph made a gallant attempt to break a large rock with his head.
- surface: Provides a sure grip on smooth or slippery surfaces.
- mud: SAFETY: Be extra careful near deep water, steep banks and slippery mud.
- boulder: Sometimes through mud and some time over great slippery boulders.
Modifying Another Word
- treacherously: Unfortunately, Malcolm turned his ankle in this section on the treacherously slippery boulder floor.
- dangerously: You should not polish a stone or terrazzo floor with a smooth texture - it will be dangerously slippery.
- notoriously: Unlike mobile ring tones, which now have their own Top 20 hits chart, mobile video statistics are notoriously slippery.
- incredibly: It was incredibly slippery - lubricated with a rather greasy feeling bright red mud.
- extremely: In their research the UCR chemists first cleaned the copper surface, creating an extremely slippery surface.
- very: January 16th, 2006 A step on a very slippery slope!
Used with adjective complement
- become: There are also many steps which can become slippery in wet weather.
- prove: I tried to scramble backward on all fours, but the stone flooring proved too slippery under the thick miry coating that covered it.
- feel: I began by mixing both Long Axis stroke in warmup, which always helps me feel more slippery.
- get: Blow bubbles inside for them to pop beware that this can get slippery on hard floors 22.
Preposition: in
Browse dictionary entries near slippery
- ‹ slipper
- ‹ slipped disk
- ‹ slippage
- ‹ slipover
- ‹ slipknot
- ‹ slipcover
- ‹ slipcase
- ‹ slip up on
- ‹ slip-up
- ‹ slip stitch
- slippery elm ›
- slippery slope ›
- slipping ›
- slippy ›
- slipsheet ›
- slipshod ›
- slipslop ›
- slipsole ›
- slipstream ›
- slipt ›

