Added 9 October 2026
slick
/slɪk/ noun
noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about slick at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
verb
adjective
-
Made slick by e.g. ice or grease.
sidewalks slick with ice
-
Superficially impressive, but lacking depth and attention to the true complexities of a subject.
too facile a solution for so complex a problem
-
Having only superficial plausibility.
glib promises
Origin
From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”). Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)