slick
pronunciation
How to pronounce slick in British English:
UK [slɪk]
How to pronounce slick in American English:
US [slɪk]
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- Noun:
- a slippery smoothness
- a magazine printed on good quality paper
- a film of oil or garbage floating on top of water
- a trowel used to make a surface slick
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- Verb:
- make slick or smooth
- give a smooth and glossy appearance
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- Adjective:
- having a smooth, gleaming surface
- made slick by e.g. ice or grease
- having only superficial plausibility
- marked by skill in deception
Word Origin
- slick
- slick: see sleek
- slick (v.)
- Old English -slician (in nigslicod "newly made sleek"), from Proto-Germanic *slikojan, from base *slikaz (cognates: Old Norse slikr "smooth," Old High German slihhan "to glide," German schleichen "to creep, crawl, sneak," Dutch slijk "mud, mire"), from PIE *sleig- "to smooth, glide, be muddy," from root *(s)lei- "slimy" (see slime (n.)). Related: Slicked; slicking.
- slick (n.)
- 1620s, a kind of cosmetic, from slick (v.). Meaning "smooth place on the surface of water caused by oil, etc." is attested from 1849. Meaning "a swindler, clever person" is attested from 1959.
- slick (adj.)
- early 14c., "smooth, glossy, sleek" (of skin or hair); sense of "clever in deception" is first recorded 1590s; that of "first-class, excellent" is from 1833. Related: Slickly; slickness.
Example
- 1. Nasa satellites don 't capture good images of the oil slick every day .
- 2. Even on a clear day , an oil slick may be imperceptible in photo-like satellite images .
- 3. If the wind changes and pushes the slick west towards texas 's beaches , that might be manageable .
- 4. Government officials said hurricanes will impact the worsening gulf oil slick depending on the storm 's size , strength and track .
- 5. If any industry ought to be seeing silver iridescence in the dark slick of oil gushing into the gulf of mexico , it is renewable energy .