Slippery
adjective
Difficult to hold or stand on because it's smooth or wet.
Be careful, the roads are slippery after the rain.
Often appears as...
- slippery surface
- slippery slope
adjective
Not easy to trust or rely on; evasive.
He gave a slippery answer when asked about his past.
Often appears as...
- slippery character
- slippery customer
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Involving uncertain danger or risk.
The debate about freedom of speech is a slippery slope.
Often appears as...
- slippery slope
- slippery issue
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Difficult to hold or stand on because it's smooth or wet.
Be careful, the roads are slippery after the rain.
Often appears as...
- slippery surface
- slippery slope
adjective
Not easy to trust or rely on; evasive.
He gave a slippery answer when asked about his past.
Often appears as...
- slippery character
- slippery customer
Usage tips
Disapproving
adjective
Involving uncertain danger or risk.
The debate about freedom of speech is a slippery slope.
Often appears as...
- slippery slope
- slippery issue
Usage tips
Disapproving
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Context Matters
Use 'slippery' to describe surfaces when warning someone about potential danger.
Careful on the deck, it's slippery from the rain.
Pro Tip 2/3Weather Related
'Slippery' often describes roads or paths in weather reports, especially in winter or rain.
Listen to the weather forecast—they said it'll be slippery tonight.
Pro Tip 3/3Figurative Use
'Slippery' can describe situations or tasks that aren't literally slippery but are hard to carry out.
Negotiating the contract was a slippery ordeal.
Pro Tip 1/3Context Matters
Use 'slippery' to describe surfaces when warning someone about potential danger.
Careful on the deck, it's slippery from the rain.
Pro Tip 2/3Weather Related
'Slippery' often describes roads or paths in weather reports, especially in winter or rain.
Listen to the weather forecast—they said it'll be slippery tonight.
Pro Tip 3/3Figurative Use
'Slippery' can describe situations or tasks that aren't literally slippery but are hard to carry out.
Negotiating the contract was a slippery ordeal.
Pro Tip 1/3Context Matters
Use 'slippery' to describe surfaces when warning someone about potential danger.
Careful on the deck, it's slippery from the rain.
Pro Tip 2/3Weather Related
'Slippery' often describes roads or paths in weather reports, especially in winter or rain.
Listen to the weather forecast—they said it'll be slippery tonight.
Pro Tip 3/3Figurative Use
'Slippery' can describe situations or tasks that aren't literally slippery but are hard to carry out.
Negotiating the contract was a slippery ordeal.
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Video examples
How I climbed a...
I had to trust my life to the friction between my climbing shoes and the smooth granite. I carefully balanced my way upward, shifting my weight back and forth between the small smears. But then I reached a foothold that I didn't quite trust. Two days ago, I'd have just stepped right up on it, but that would have been with a rope on. Now it felt too small and too slippery.
Video examples
Ed Gavagan: A story...
it's going to be, you know, everything's going to be happening at the same time, it's going to be -- you're going to have all this information coming at you, there's going to be organs getting in the way, it's going to be slippery, it's just very important that you be able to do these
Video examples
How to let go of being a...
that moral identity is important to many of us. Now, if somebody challenges it, like they question us for a joke we tell, or maybe we say our workforce is homogenous, or a slippery business expense, we go into red-zone defensiveness a lot of the time.
Video examples
How does fracking work?...
These vary depending on the specific characteristics of the fracking site, but usually fall into three acids for clearing debris and dissolving minerals, friction-reducing compounds to create a slippery form of water known as slickwater,
Video examples
No one can figure out...
But the true story of eel reproduction is even more difficult to imagine. And to solve this slippery mystery, scholars would have to rethink centuries of research. Today, we know the freshwater eel lifecycle has five distinct
Video examples
The ferocious predatory...
perfect for swiftly clamping down on slippery aquatic prey. This apex predator, as well as its ecosystem, is unparalleled in the history of life on Earth. All that's left of these fearsome predators are fossils.
Video examples
How Dolphins Evade Shark...
They can outmaneuver a shark fairly easily, especially if they're in deeper or open water spaces. To understand how sharks catch these slippery creatures, the team heads to a beach that offers a unique look
Video examples
Hermit Crabs Use Litter...
So, they leave seashells near the rubbish piles to help the homeless crustaceans. The crab normally winds its body into the spiral of a shell. It's far harder to grip a straight and slippery can.
Video examples
Jackal vs. Ostrich Eggs...
what we've got here is a highly motivated animal trying and failing to figure out this culinary conundrum it's just a little too big a little too slippery a little too everything for the
Video examples
Top 5 Craftiest Animals!...
leave seashells near the rubbish piles to help the homeless crustaceans the crab normally want its body into the spiral of the shell it's far harder to grip a straight and slippery can
Video examples
How I climbed a...
I had to trust my life to the friction between my climbing shoes and the smooth granite. I carefully balanced my way upward, shifting my weight back and forth between the small smears. But then I reached a foothold that I didn't quite trust. Two days ago, I'd have just stepped right up on it, but that would have been with a rope on. Now it felt too small and too slippery.
Video examples
Ed Gavagan: A story...
it's going to be, you know, everything's going to be happening at the same time, it's going to be -- you're going to have all this information coming at you, there's going to be organs getting in the way, it's going to be slippery, it's just very important that you be able to do these
Video examples
How to let go of being a...
that moral identity is important to many of us. Now, if somebody challenges it, like they question us for a joke we tell, or maybe we say our workforce is homogenous, or a slippery business expense, we go into red-zone defensiveness a lot of the time.
Video examples
How does fracking work?...
These vary depending on the specific characteristics of the fracking site, but usually fall into three acids for clearing debris and dissolving minerals, friction-reducing compounds to create a slippery form of water known as slickwater,
Video examples
No one can figure out...
But the true story of eel reproduction is even more difficult to imagine. And to solve this slippery mystery, scholars would have to rethink centuries of research. Today, we know the freshwater eel lifecycle has five distinct
Video examples
The ferocious predatory...
perfect for swiftly clamping down on slippery aquatic prey. This apex predator, as well as its ecosystem, is unparalleled in the history of life on Earth. All that's left of these fearsome predators are fossils.
Video examples
How Dolphins Evade Shark...
They can outmaneuver a shark fairly easily, especially if they're in deeper or open water spaces. To understand how sharks catch these slippery creatures, the team heads to a beach that offers a unique look
Video examples
Hermit Crabs Use Litter...
So, they leave seashells near the rubbish piles to help the homeless crustaceans. The crab normally winds its body into the spiral of a shell. It's far harder to grip a straight and slippery can.
Video examples
Jackal vs. Ostrich Eggs...
what we've got here is a highly motivated animal trying and failing to figure out this culinary conundrum it's just a little too big a little too slippery a little too everything for the
Video examples
Top 5 Craftiest Animals!...
leave seashells near the rubbish piles to help the homeless crustaceans the crab normally want its body into the spiral of the shell it's far harder to grip a straight and slippery can
Example 1 of 10
Quote examples
John Waite
English Musician
When I think of a song, I think of it as a beast. You chase these beasts around the room and try to grab them and put them in a tape machine. But they're slippery, and they run away a lot.
Quote examples
Henry Rollins
American Musician
Every politician, every president gets votes by getting people that don't like him to like him. That's why politicians are slippery: because they talk out of both sides of their mouth.
Quote examples
Michelle Dean
American Journalist
It's become a cliche to say that a piece of drama is about 'the nature of truth.' But 'Rectify' so openly plays with the slippery nature of memory that the label directly applies.
Quote examples
Ovid
Roman Poet
Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery.
Quote examples
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
French Athlete
When you get on to fresh grass courts you always know that they might be a bit slippery but you have to adjust accordingly.
Quote examples
Simon Sinek
English Author
There are two types of claims: those based on hard numbers and those based on slippery numbers.
Quote examples
Grace Slick
American Musician
Vegetarian' is a slippery word. I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck - the point is I'm vegan.
Quote examples
Lillian Hellman
American Dramatist
What a word is truth. Slippery, tricky, unreliable. I tried in these books to tell the truth.
Quote examples
David Olusoga
British Historian
Civilisation is slippery, the word has multiple and contested meanings.
Quote examples
Greg Maddux
American Athlete
The dirt was OK, but once you hit the grass... Wet grass is slippery.
Quote examples
John Waite
English Musician
When I think of a song, I think of it as a beast. You chase these beasts around the room and try to grab them and put them in a tape machine. But they're slippery, and they run away a lot.
Quote examples
Henry Rollins
American Musician
Every politician, every president gets votes by getting people that don't like him to like him. That's why politicians are slippery: because they talk out of both sides of their mouth.
Quote examples
Michelle Dean
American Journalist
It's become a cliche to say that a piece of drama is about 'the nature of truth.' But 'Rectify' so openly plays with the slippery nature of memory that the label directly applies.
Quote examples
Ovid
Roman Poet
Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery.
Quote examples
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
French Athlete
When you get on to fresh grass courts you always know that they might be a bit slippery but you have to adjust accordingly.
Quote examples
Simon Sinek
English Author
There are two types of claims: those based on hard numbers and those based on slippery numbers.
Quote examples
Grace Slick
American Musician
Vegetarian' is a slippery word. I don't eat cheese, I don't eat duck - the point is I'm vegan.
Quote examples
Lillian Hellman
American Dramatist
What a word is truth. Slippery, tricky, unreliable. I tried in these books to tell the truth.
Quote examples
David Olusoga
British Historian
Civilisation is slippery, the word has multiple and contested meanings.
Quote examples
Greg Maddux
American Athlete
The dirt was OK, but once you hit the grass... Wet grass is slippery.
Example 1 of 10
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