slick

adj

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”).

1. Slippery or smooth due to a covering of liquid; often used to describe appearances.

   “This rain is making the roads slick.”

   “The top coating of lacquer gives this finish a slick look.”

2. Sleek; smooth.

   “Both slick and dainty.”

3. Appearing expensive or sophisticated.

   “They read all kinds of slick magazines.”

4. Superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy.

   “That new sales rep is slick. Be sure to read the fine print before you buy anything.”

   “The threat the most radical of them pose is evidently far greater at home than abroad: in one characteristically slick and chilling Isis video – entitled “a message to the Jordanian tyrant” – a smiling, long-haired young man in black pats the explosive belt round his waist as he burns his passport and his fellow fighters praise the memory of Zarqawi, who was killed in Iraq in 2006.”

5. Clever, making an apparently hard task look easy.

   “Our new process for extracting needles from haystacks is extremely slick.”

   “That was a slick move, locking your keys in the car.”

6. Extraordinarily great or special.

   “That is one slick bicycle: it has all sorts of features!”

adv

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”).

1. Alternative form of sleek (“with ease and dexterity”).

   “We're just following a couple of crooks who've got slick away in that two-funnelled boat yonder, and we mean to keep in touch with them till they land.”

name

1. A term of address, generally applied to males, possibly including strangers, implying that the person addressed is slick in the sense of "sophisticated", but often used sarcastically.

   “That was a great move locking your keys in the car, Slick.”

   “Don't you look good tonight, Slick!”

noun

1. Alternative form of schlich.

verb

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”).

1. To make slick.

   “The surface had been slicked.”

   “So I slicked the broccoli with oil and seasonings and set it to roast.”