slick

Pronunciation: /slɪk/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a slippery smoothness
  2. noun a magazine printed on good quality paper
  3. noun a film of oil or garbage floating on top of water

Etymology

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”).

In classic literature

Synonyms

slickness, slipperiness, slip

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
smoothness

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