slick

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English sliken (“to smooth, polish”) for the verb and slike for the adjective,^[2][3][4][5] inherited from Old English -slician, recorded only in nigslicod (“newly made sleek”).^[3][6][7][8] The adjective probably goes back to an unrecorded Old English adjective related to that verb.^[7][3][4] Both come from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”),^[3][6][9] also the source of Old Norse slíkr (“smooth”),^[3][6][8][9] Old High German slīhhan (“to glide”), German schleichen (“to creep, sneak”),^[3][6] Middle Low German slīk (“mud”) and Dutch slijk (“mud, mire”).^[6][3][9] The OED leaves open how Icelandic slíkja and Norwegian slikja, to be or to make sleek, are related.^[7] Barnhart compares Old Irish sligim (“I smear”) and traces the group to Proto-Indo-European *sleig- (“smooth, slippery”),^[6] which Etymonline relates to the root of slime.^[3] sleek is a later variant of the same word.^[10][11][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To make smooth or glossy, to polish: about 1200 in Barnhart,^[6] before 1225 in the Legend of St Katherine according to the OED.^[7] Barnhart finds the place name Slickeburn in 1181 and an adverb, probably meaning "smoothly, deceitfully", in Havelok the Dane about 1300.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From the start the word could describe smooth speech: about 1250, in The Owl and the Nightingale, the verb meant to make something seem plausible,^[7] and Gower used it for "to flatter".^[12] The adjective, first used of smooth, glossy skin or hair (before 1366),^[7][3] took the sense "smooth-tongued, plausible" in the 1590s, in Ben Jonson's Cynthia's Revels (1599) according to Barnhart.^[3][6][10] From 1807, in American use, it meant "adroit, clever", which could shade into "clever in deception".^[7][3] From 1833 it was a general term of approval in American English, "first-class, excellent".^[7][3][13] The noun first named a cosmetic (1626),^[7][6][3] and in 1849 an American use for a smooth patch on water, usually from oil, appears;^[7][3][6] this is now the main sense of the noun, as in oil slick.^[14][5] Later nouns include a glossy magazine (1934), as opposed to a pulp magazine,^[7][3] a smooth racing tyre (1959), and a clever person or swindler (1959).^[7][3] The Dialect Dictionary records the adjective, meaning sleek, smooth or slippery, in general dialect use in Scotland, Ireland, England and America.^[15]

Timeline

• 1181 – the place name Slickeburn.^[6]
• c. 1200 – verb, to make smooth or glossy.^[6][7]
• c. 1250 – verb, to make plausible; to flatter (obsolete).^[7]
• c. 1300 – adverb, probably smoothly or deceitfully.^[6]
• before 1366 – adjective, of skin or hair, smooth, glossy.^[7][3]
• 1599 – smooth-spoken, plausible.^[6][3]
• 1626 – noun, a cosmetic (obsolete).^[7][6]
• 1807 – adroit, clever; glib.^[7][3]
• 1833 – first-class, excellent (US).^[7][3][13]
• 1849 – a smooth patch on water, especially from oil.^[7][3][5]
• 1934 – a glossy magazine (US).^[7][3]
• 1959 – a smooth racing tyre; a clever person, a swindler.^[7][3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Smooth and slippery; smooth and glossy: The steps were slick with frost.
2. Glib and persuasive, often in a way that does not inspire trust: a slick talker.
3. Done or made with skill and ease; efficient and polished: a slick bit of footwork.
4. Attractive on the surface but lacking depth: a slick brochure.
5. (chiefly US and Canada, informal) Shrewd, sly.

Verb

1. To make smooth, glossy or slippery: He slicked his hair down with water.
2. To smarten up or polish; often with up.

Noun

1. A slippery area, especially a film of oil floating on water.
2. (US) A glossy magazine.
3. A smooth tyre used in motor racing.
4. (US slang) A clever person; a swindler.

Adverb

1. Smoothly, cleverly; quickly.

Word family

• slickly
• slickness
• slickrock
• slickster
• oil slick

Related words

• outslick
• slicker
• slicken
• sleek
• slime

Usage notes

The mining word slick, finely crushed metallic ore (1683), has a separate source, German Schlich.^[7][8]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
13. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
14. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
15. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)