a course or situation regarded as easily or inevitably leading to further decline or deterioration
slippery slope


Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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slippery slope

noun
A tricky precarious situation, especially one that leads gradually but inexorably to disaster: “[Without] a clear boundary to confer personhood on a human being … we approach a slippery slope that ends in the disposal of inconvenient people” ( Steven Pinker )
THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"Slippery slope." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/slippery-slope.
APA Style
Slippery slope. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/slippery-slope

Noun
(plural slippery slopes)
- (idiomatic) A chain of events that, once initiated, cannot be halted; especially one in which the final outcome is undesirable or precarious.
- I think basing your actions off an assumption like that is a slippery slope that is going to get you in trouble.
- An argument that follows a chain of events or causes and effects to some conclusion.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
Link to this page
Cite this page
MLA Style
"Slippery slope." YourDictionary. LoveToKnow. www.yourdictionary.com/slippery-slope.
APA Style
Slippery slope. (n.d.). In YourDictionary. Retrieved from https://www.yourdictionary.com/slippery-slope