slippery

adjective

slip·​pery ˈsli-p(ə-)rē 

slipperier; slipperiest

1

a

: causing or tending to cause something to slide or fall

slippery roads

b

: tending to slip from the grasp

a slippery fish

2

a

: not firmly fixed : unstable

b

: not precise or fixed in meaning : ambiguous, elusive

3

: not to be trusted : tricky

slipperiness noun

Synonyms

• furtive
• shady
• shifty
• sly
• sneaking
• sneaky
• stealthy

Examples of slippery in a Sentence

The trails were muddy and slippery.

Fish are slippery to hold.

The sign cautions: “Slippery when wet.”

Recent Examples on the Web

Watch out for slippery roads: Be extra careful during the first half hour after rain begins. —Bay Area Weather Report, The Mercury News, 15 Feb. 2025

Mel Bochner, a conceptual artist who incisively explored the slippery relationship between language and art, died on February 12 at 84. —Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 14 Feb. 2025

Photos shared to Facebook showed the rescue, including the moment Crum collected her from the slippery rocks as the kayakers floated nearby. —Brooke Baitinger, Sacramento Bee, 13 Feb. 2025

The Baltimore region has recently faced a volley of winter weather, exhausting some school systems of their snow days and leaving slippery roads behind. —Dan Belson, Baltimore Sun, 12 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

slipper entry 1 + -y entry 1

Note: As the earliest occurrence of slippery appears to be in the Coverdale Bible (1535, Psalm 35:6), it has been suggested that the addition of the suffix -y to the adjective slipper copies German schlipfferig in Luther's translation of the same passage (1534, present-day German schlüpfrig). The German word is ultimately from the same Germanic base as slip entry 5 (see Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology).

First Known Use

circa 1500, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing slippery

• slippery elm
• slippery slope

Kids Definition

slippery

adjective

slip·​pery ˈslip-(ə-)rē 

slipperier; slipperiest

1

: having a surface smooth enough to cause one to slide or lose one's hold

2

: not worthy of trust : tricky, crafty

slipperiness noun