slippery

adjective

slip·​pery ˈsli-p(ə-)rē 

slipperier; slipperiest

1

a

: causing or tending to cause something to slide or fall

slippery roads

b

: tending to slip from the grasp

a slippery fish

2

a

: not firmly fixed : unstable

b

: not precise or fixed in meaning : ambiguous, elusive

3

: not to be trusted : tricky

slipperiness noun

Synonyms of slippery

• shady

Examples of slippery in a Sentence

The trails were muddy and slippery.

Fish are slippery to hold.

The sign cautions: “Slippery when wet.”

Recent Examples on the Web

This suede option, however, is made from a naturally water-resistant split suede exterior with non-slip rubber grips along the base to provide extra traction on slippery surfaces. —Rachel Trujillo, PEOPLE, 12 Nov. 2025

To prepare, weather officials urge residents to keep an emergency kit of food, water, a flashlight, blankets and more in their car, to take extra time for commutes and to drive slowly on potentially slippery roads. —Sarah Moore, Freep.com, 10 Nov. 2025

While not much snow is anticipated, Packers fans traveling for the game may want to keep an eye out for some slippery areas of the road, Kaiser said. —Kelli Arseneau, jsonline.com, 10 Nov. 2025

In 2011, Joanna Aizenberg, an engineer at Harvard, and her colleagues created materials with pitcher-plant patterns on their surface, and these turned out to be slippery as well. —Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025

Word History

Etymology

slipper entry 1 + -y entry 1

Note: As the earliest occurrence of slippery appears to be in the Coverdale Bible (1535, Psalm 35:6), it has been suggested that the addition of the suffix -y to the adjective slipper copies German schlipfferig in Luther's translation of the same passage (1534, present-day German schlüpfrig). The German word is ultimately from the same Germanic base as slip entry 5 (see Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology).

First Known Use

circa 1500, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing slippery

• slippery elm
• slippery slope

Kids Definition

slippery

adjective

slip·​pery ˈslip-(ə-)rē 

slipperier; slipperiest

1

: having a surface smooth enough to cause one to slide or lose one's hold

2

: not worthy of trust : tricky, crafty

slipperiness noun