oleaginous

adjective

ole·​ag·​i·​nous ˌō-lē-ˈa-jə-nəs 

1

: resembling or having the properties of oil : oily

also : containing or producing oil

2

: marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality

oleaginously adverb

oleaginousness noun

Did you know?

The oily oleaginous slipped into English via Middle French oleagineux, coming from Latin oleagineus, meaning "of an olive tree." Oleagineus itself is from Latin olea, meaning "olive tree," and ultimately from Greek elaia, meaning "olive." Oleaginous was at first used in a literal sense, as it still can be. An oleaginous substance is simply oily, and an oleaginous plant produces oil. The word took on its extended "ingratiating" sense in the 19th century.

Synonyms

• adulatory
• fulsome
• gushing
• gushy
• hagiographic
• hagiographical
• oily
• soapy
• unctuous

Examples of oleaginous in a Sentence

the office manager greeted the corporate bigwigs with an oleaginous welcome that should have embarrassed him

Recent Examples on the Web

One defense, beginning in the late eighteen-hundreds, was flypaper, sheets of which were coated on one side with an oleaginous substance that lured flies, then permanently trapped them. —David Owen, The New Yorker, 27 July 2024

At any moment, the noodles might dissolve, the cheese topping burn, the dish collapse into a soggy, oleaginous mess. —Isaac Butler, The New Yorker, 1 Dec. 2023

The interludes make for juicy lampoons of that unfortunate Western export, oleaginous showbiz faux-intimacy. —Peter Marks, Washington Post, 21 June 2022

The French state is represented effectively here by oleaginous High Commissioner De Roller (Magimel), a European long based in Tahiti. —Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 May 2022

After tapping the oleaginous Gaetz, Biden said that crude from the Florida congressman could start flowing throughout the United States by the end of the week. —Andy Borowitz, The New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2021

The same goes for the oleaginous Uriah Heep (Ben Whishaw), the legal clerk who can worm into people’s brains, as if into their guts, with his show of humility. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2020

And there is the womanizing Mr. Mantalini, whose gift for oleaginous flattery always persuades his long-suffering wife to take him back. —Washington Post, 30 Apr. 2020

Eggplant sponges up so much olive oil in the traditional caponata recipe that the end result often is a caponata that is cloyingly oleaginous. —Bill St. John, The Denver Post, 26 June 2019

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French oleagineux, from Latin oleagineus of an olive tree, from olea olive tree, from Greek elaia

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Medical Definition

oleaginous

adjective

ole·​ag·​i·​nous ˌō-lē-ˈaj-ə-nəs 

: resembling or having the properties of oil

also : containing or producing oil