sleek
pronunciation
How to pronounce sleek in British English:
UK [sliːk]
How to pronounce sleek in American English:
US [sliːk]
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- Verb:
- make slick or smooth
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- Adjective:
- having a smooth, gleaming surface
- well-groomed and neatly tailored; especially too well-groomed
Word Origin
- sleek
- sleek: [16] Sleek originated as a variant form of slick [14], which probably went back to an unrecorded Old English *slice. It apparently has relatives in Icelandic slíkja and Norwegian slikja ‘smoothen’.=> slick
- sleek (adj.)
- 1580s, variant of Middle English slike (see slick (adj.)). Originally of healthy-looking animal hair; applied to persons 1630s, with sense of "plump and smooth-skinned." Figurative meaning "slick, fawning, flattering" is from 1590s.
- sleek (v.)
- "make sleek," mid-15c., a variant of slick (v.). Related: Sleeked; sleeking.
Example
- 1. Weighing a few ounces , the sleek electronic device has a tiny embedded camera .
- 2. For the fashion-conscious , sleek iphone and samsung phones are unlikely to raise eyebrows the way the often-bulky blackberry does .
- 3. Yet those rainbow prints were teamed with sleek suits , often in cyber blue .
- 4. The sleek and modern building features at its heart a full-size indoor skate park that hovers 18 feet above the ground .
- 5. She looked younger than she had sounded : sleek and blond with bright red lipstick , which suited her .