slippery
/ˈslɪpəɹi/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.61 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a surface, having low friction, often due to being covered in a non-viscous liquid, and therefore hard to grip, hard to stand on without falling, etc.
adj
Example Sentences
- "Oily substances render things slippery."
- "The screeching of brakes, the monotonous blare of motor horns, the clip-clip of shoes on slippery pavements, the rustling of wet mackintoshes were all part of the great metropolis."
- "a slippery person"
- "a slippery promise"
- "Which when they fall, as being slippery standers, / The love that leaned on them, as slippery too, / Do one pluck down another, and together / Die in the fall."
- "He looking down With scorn or pity on the slippery state Of kings, will tread upon the neck of fate."
Etymology
From Middle English slipperie, an extended form ( + -y) of Middle English slipper, sliper (“slippery”), from Old English slipor (“slippery”), from Proto-Germanic *slipraz (“smooth, slippery”), equivalent to slip + -er. Compare also Middle English slibbri, slubbri (“slippery”) borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German slibberich (“slippery”). Cognate with German schlüpfrig (“slippery”), Danish slibrig (“slippery”), Swedish slipprig (“slippery”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Usage
Inflected Forms
slipperier (comparative)
more slippery (comparative)
slipperiest (superlative)
most slippery (superlative)