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”).
Meanings
Slippery or smooth due to a covering of liquid; often used to describe appearances.
my nipples got hard, and my cunt was slickwith juice. 2006, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Glamour Girls: Femme/femme Erotica, Haworth Press, →ISBN:
His large round head was shaved slick.
Morning commuters in parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas discovered slick sidewalks and icy roadways Monday. 2024 January 21, Elizabeth Wolfe, Robert Shackelford and Mary Gilbert, “Icy conditions make for hazardous travel across central US, but warmer air is on the horizon”, in CNN:
The top coating of lacquer gives this finish a slick look.
This rain is making the roads slick.
Sleek; smooth.
Both slick and dainty. [1611?], Homer, “(please specify |book=I to XXIV)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., The Iliads of Homer Prince of Poets. […], London: […] Nathaniell Butter, →OCLC; republished as The Iliads of Homer, Prince of Poets, […], new edition, volume (please specify the book number), London: Charles Knight and Co., […], 1843, →OCLC:
Appearing expensive or sophisticated.
They read all kinds of slick magazines.
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. 2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian:
(often, sarcastic) Clever, making an apparently hard task look easy.
That was a slick move, locking your keys in the car.
I leave the train at Salisbury, where (in a very slick operation) another two-car set is added to the front of the train before it heads for London. 2022 November 16, Paul Bigland, “From rural branches to high-speed arteries”, in RAIL, number 970, page 55:
Our new process for extracting needles from haystacks is extremely slick.
(US, qualifier:West Coast slang) Extraordinarily great or special.
That is one slick bicycle: it has all sorts of features!
es elegante (appearing expensive or sophisticated) · cs vemlouvavý (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · hu ügyes (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · cs vybroušený (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu dörzsölt (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · es resbaladizo (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · es sofisticado (appearing expensive or sophisticated) · it scaltro (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · bg повърхностен (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · it sdrucciolevole (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · de schlau (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · de gekonnt (appearing expensive or sophisticated) · ru ло́вкий (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu szuper ((US West Coast slang) extraordinarily great or special) · hu tipp-topp (appearing expensive or sophisticated) · es pulido (appearing expensive or sophisticated) · ja ギトギトな (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · cs vychytaný (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · bg лъскав (appearing expensive or sophisticated) · sv schyst ((US West Coast slang) extraordinarily great or special) · es liso (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · de glitschig (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · es ingenioso pero insubstancial (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · tr kaygan (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · tr ustaca (appearing expensive or sophisticated) · ru хи́трый (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu cseles (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · izh lippiä (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · it viscido (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · ru ско́льзкий (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · cs propracovaný (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · lv slidens (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · es que tiene mucha labia (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · fr glissant (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · fi liukas (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · hu ravasz (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · cs kluzký (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · hu hatékony (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu ravasz (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu klassz ((US West Coast slang) extraordinarily great or special) · es astuto (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu furfangos (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · sk šmykľavý (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · sk kĺzky (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · cs úlisný (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · bg плъзгав (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · fi lipevä (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · cs mazaný (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · cy slic (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · fi näppärä (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu elegáns (appearing expensive or sophisticated) · cs bravurní (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · it falso (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · es hábil (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · de schlau ((US West Coast slang) extraordinarily great or special) · cs hladký (sleek, smooth) · ru ско́льзкий (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · tr kurnazca ((US West Coast slang) extraordinarily great or special) · fi taitava (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu fényes (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · hu sima (sleek, smooth) · ru хи́трый (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · tr cerbezeli (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · de raffiniert ((US West Coast slang) extraordinarily great or special) · ja つるつるな (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · es labioso (superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy) · hu csúszós (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · ru у́мный (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · bg изкусен (clever, making an apparently hard task easy) · hu síkos (slippery due to a covering of liquid) · tr akıllıca (clever, making an apparently hard task easy)
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”).
Meanings
(alt-of, alternative, colloquial, not-comparable) 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. 1915, William Le Queux, The Place of Dragons:
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”).
Meanings
A covering of liquid, particularly oil.
Careful in turn three — there's an oil slick on the road.
The oil slick has now spread to cover the entire bay, critically endangering the sea life.
(US, broadly, dated) A rapidly-expanding ring of dark water, resembling an oil slick, around the site of a large underwater explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress through the water of the shock wave generated by the explosion.
Someone who is clever and untrustworthy.
A tool used to make something smooth or even.
A tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern, often used in auto racing.
You'll go much faster if you put on slicks.
(US, slang) A helicopter.
A camera-ready image to be used by a printer. The "slick" is photographed to produce a negative image which is then used to burn a positive offset plate or other printing device.
The project was delayed because the slick had not been delivered to the printer.
(slang) A glossy magazine.
Many of the stories in SSB [Sex Behind Bars] first appeared in gay slicks, Mandate, Honcho, First Hand, et al. 1981 December 1, Freddie Greenfield, “Insulting Prison Porn”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 20, page 11:
When Carver, wild to be published in a major slick, decided to accept the changes, Maryann accused him “of being a whore, of selling out to the establishment.” 2009 November 20, Stephen King, “Raymond Carver’s Life and Stories”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
A wide paring chisel used in joinery.
(slang) In omegaverse fiction, the copious, lubricating bodily fluid produced by an omega in heat.
For his ruts, Castiel orders slick from a single donor, who is, unbeknownst to him, Dean, who lives at the Roadhouse and is in contact with many of his colleagues and rescuees. 2019, Tessa Barone, "Just Go Find Yourself a Nice Alpha: Gender and Consent in Supernatural Fandom's Alpha/Beta/Omega Universe", thesis submitted to Oregon State University, page 32
She observed another parallel to menstruation, namely the abundance of 'slick' that Omegas produce when they go into heat, which mainly functions as an anal lubricant. 2019, Chris van der Vegt, "The Second Genders: Utopia and Dystopia in Stranger Things Omegaverse Fanfiction", thesis submitted to Utrecht University, page 23
I spent two fucking days locked up in that hotel room, miserable and hating myself and drenched in my own slick! 2017, "Tessa on Ice", quoted in Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega?: Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 41
(slang) A silver coin that has been worn to the point its surface feels smooth to the touch.
a slick doesn’t really give you anything except the satisfaction of owning it, while the hole gives you satisfaction if actually being able to see something 2021 February 16, hotwheelsearl, “Would you rather have a slick coin with barely any details, or a holed one with good details?”, in CoinTalk.com:
Somebody once came into the coin shop with a bunch of really well-worn junk silver that would commonly be called "slicks." 2014 January 6, CaptHenway, “How much metal is lost by weight from wear during circulation?”, in NGC Forums:
cy stremp (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · ru пятно́ (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · es marea negra (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · hu sima felületű gumiabroncs (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · ru разлив (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · fi sliksi (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · fi öljylautta (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · hu olajréteg (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · ga leo (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · ca marea negra (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · fi lautta (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · fi sileä rengas (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · ko 기름띠 (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · es neumático liso (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · ru плёнка (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · fr pneu lisse (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · hu olajfolt (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · fi läikkä (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · nl slick (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · fi öljyläikkä (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · gl pneumático liso (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · de Ölschlick (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · ru слик (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · nl slijk (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · fr nappe (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · de Schlick (covering of liquid, particularly oil) · it slick (tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern) · de Ölteppich (covering of liquid, particularly oil)
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”).
Meanings
To make slick.
So I slicked the broccoli with oil and seasonings and set it to roast. 2009 January 14, Melissa Clark, “Green, Gold and Pink: Fast, Easy and Delicious”, in New York Times:
hu simít (make slick with substance) · hu lesimít (make slick with substance) · cs uhladit (make slick with substance) · cs ulízat (make slick with substance) · ja ギトギトする (make slick with substance) · ja つるつるする (make slick with substance)