What does slippery mean?

Definitions for slippery
ˈslɪp ə ri, ˈslɪp rislip·pe·ry

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word slippery.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. slippery, slippyadjective

    causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide

    "slippery sidewalks"; "a slippery bar of soap"; "the streets are still slippy from the rain"

  2. slippery, trickyadjective

    not to be trusted

    "how extraordinarily slippery a liar the camera is"- James Agee

Wiktionary

  1. slipperyadjective

    Of a surface, having low friction, often due to being covered in a non-viscous liquid, and therefore hard to grip, hard to stand on without falling, etc.

  2. slipperyadjective

    Evasive; difficult to pin down.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Slipperyadjective

    Etymology: slipur , Saxon; sliperig, Swedish.

    They trim their feathers, which makes them oily and slippery, that the water slips off. John Mortimer.

    Oily substances only lubricate and make the bowels slippery. Arbuthnot.

    Did you know the art o’ th’ court,
    As hard to leave as keep; whose top to climb,
    Is certain falling; or so slipp’ry, that
    The fear’s as bad as falling. William Shakespeare, Cymbeline.

    His promise to trust to as slippery as ice. Thomas Tusser.

    Their way shall be as slippery ways in the darkness. Jer. xxiii.

    The slipp’ry tops of human state,
    The gilded pinacles of fate. Abraham Cowley.

    The higher they are raised, the giddier they are; the more slippery is their standing, and the deeper the fall. Roger L'Estrange.

    The highest hill is the most slipp’ry place,
    And fortune mocks us with a smiling face. John Denham.

    Beauty, like ice, our footing does betray;
    Who can tread sure on the smooth slippery way? Dryden.

    Thus surely bound, yet be not overbold,
    The slipp’ry god will try to loose his hold;
    And various forms assume, to cheat thy sight,
    And with vain images of beasts affright. John Dryden, Georg.

    When they fall, as being slipp’ry standers,
    The love that lean’d on them as slipp’ry too,
    Doth one pluck down another, and together
    Die in the fast. William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida.

    Oh world, thy slippery turns! Friends now fast sworn,
    Whose double bosoms seem to wear one heart,
    Whose hours, whose bed, whose meal and exercise,
    Are still together; who twine, as ’twere, in love
    Unseparable, shall within this hour,
    On a dissension of a doit, break out
    To bitterest enmity. William Shakespeare.

    He looking down
    With scorn or pity on the slippery state
    Of kings, will tread upon the neck of fate. John Denham, Sophy.

    One sure trick is better than a hundred slippery ones. Roger L'Estrange.

    My wife is slippery. William Shakespeare, Winter’s Tale.

Wikipedia

  1. slippery

    Slipperiness is when a surface has a low coefficient of friction, allowing objects to glide across the surface. People walking on slippery surfaces are likely to slip or fall. A surface can for example be slippery due to it being wet, or due to it being icy. There are several competing theories about why ice is slippery. Road slipperiness is a major area of road safety, but various means have also been developed to measure walkway and deck slipperiness in order to develop health and safety standards.

ChatGPT

  1. slippery

    Slippery is a word used to describe an object or surface that is hard to hold, grip, stand on, or move on because it is smooth, wet, or polished, making it easy to slide or lose balance accidentally. It can also refer to a situation that is complex, tricky, or uncertain. Additionally, it might describe a person who is difficult to catch, control or deal with, often because of cunning or deceitful behavior.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Slipperyadjective

    having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; allowing or causing anything to slip or move smoothly, rapidly, and easily upon the surface; smooth; glib; as, oily substances render things slippery

  2. Slipperyadjective

    not affording firm ground for confidence; as, a slippery promise

  3. Slipperyadjective

    not easily held; liable or apt to slip away

  4. Slipperyadjective

    liable to slip; not standing firm

  5. Slipperyadjective

    unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant; fickle

  6. Slipperyadjective

    uncertain in effect

  7. Slipperyadjective

    wanton; unchaste; loose in morals

  8. Etymology: [See Slipper, a.]

How to pronounce slippery?

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of slippery in Chaldean Numerology is: 4

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of slippery in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of slippery in a Sentence

  1. Martin Lee:

    I hope the Canadian government and the Canadian Parliament will speak up for us at this difficult stage, if Hong Kong were to go down the slippery slope as now, Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city.

  2. American Energy Alliance:

    His (McCarthy's) costly proposal is a slippery slope to a slightly less intrusive Green New Deal.

  3. Daniel Ek:

    We should have clear lines around content and take action when they are crossed, but canceling voices is a slippery slope.

  4. Curt Levey:

    But it’s a slippery slope to more intrusive tactics. Pretty soon, the government will be interested in where you were as much before and after the crime as they can get. And that’s where it gets dangerous. They will want to know your state of mind or whether you met with some co-conspirators, they will want as broad a record of your location as they can find.

  5. Steve Sarkisian:

    These are the rules, we have to play by them. But it has created unique challenges that we have not seen before. Everybody’s trying to navigate through it the best way they can. But there’s a slippery slope. I don’t think any of us really know where this is going to go. This is the world we’re in right now.

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Translations for slippery

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"slippery." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/slippery>.

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