oleaginous

adjective

ole·​ag·​i·​nous ˌō-lē-ˈa-jə-nəs How to pronounce oleaginous (audio)
1
: resembling or having the properties of oil : oily
also : containing or producing oil
2
: marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality
oleaginously adverb
oleaginousness noun

Did you know?

The oily oleaginous slipped into English via Middle French oleagineux, coming from Latin oleagineus, meaning "of an olive tree." Oleagineus itself is from Latin olea, meaning "olive tree," and ultimately from Greek elaia, meaning "olive." Oleaginous was at first used in a literal sense, as it still can be. An oleaginous substance is simply oily, and an oleaginous plant produces oil. The word took on its extended "ingratiating" sense in the 19th century.

Examples of oleaginous in a Sentence

the office manager greeted the corporate bigwigs with an oleaginous welcome that should have embarrassed him
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
One defense, beginning in the late eighteen-hundreds, was flypaper, sheets of which were coated on one side with an oleaginous substance that lured flies, then permanently trapped them. David Owen, The New Yorker, 27 July 2024 Ted Cruz, the perennial front-runner, is smug and oleaginous—hated equally by his colleagues and the public. Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 26 Sep. 2022 The interludes make for juicy lampoons of that unfortunate Western export, oleaginous showbiz faux-intimacy. Peter Marks, Washington Post, 21 June 2022 The French state is represented effectively here by oleaginous High Commissioner De Roller (Magimel), a European long based in Tahiti. Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 May 2022 Trump cheapened the honor into near irrelevance by awarding it to Limbaugh, who died earlier this year, and then, on his way out the door in January, to two of his most oleaginous sycophants in Congress, Rep. Devin Nunes of California and Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio. Eric Zorn, chicagotribune.com, 22 Apr. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Middle French oleagineux, from Latin oleagineus of an olive tree, from olea olive tree, from Greek elaia

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of oleaginous was in the 15th century

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Cite this Entry

“Oleaginous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oleaginous. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

Medical Definition

oleaginous

adjective
ole·​ag·​i·​nous ˌō-lē-ˈaj-ə-nəs How to pronounce oleaginous (audio)
: resembling or having the properties of oil
also : containing or producing oil
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