slippery slope

noun

|Updated on: 23 Jun 2018

Examples: slippery slope in a Sentence

: a course of action that seems to lead inevitably from one action or result to another with unintended consequences

See slippery slope defined for English-language learners

Examples of slippery slope in a Sentence

His behavior will lead him down a slippery slope to ruin.

Recent Examples of slippery slope from the Web

And while a correlation between body weight and speed exists, Nickols warns that this can be a slippery slope toward an eating disorder, and that any improvements in time, however brief, can negatively reinforce destructive behaviors.

— kelyn soong, chicagotribune.com, "Runners spread awarness about eating disorders in their sport," 7 June 2018
Sledding party Enjoy the slippery slopes of Sussex Village Park.

— geoff bruce, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "5 things to do in the northwest suburbs this week," 2 Feb. 2018
And thus the slippery slope was oiled by the best intentions, and down everyone slid.

— vanessa friedman, New York Times, "The Red Carpet Is Its Own Economy," 5 Jan. 2018
Will Perelman be able to maintain her footing on that steep and slippery slope?

— kristen bellstrom, Fortune, "Revlon CEO, USA Gymnastics, Sarah Silverman: Broadsheet May 24," 24 May 2018
And those who don’t want to confront the discomfort of denying their feelings to a more compelling reason inevitably doom themselves and society to disarray and chaos, which is the slippery slope toward nihilism.

— WSJ, "Feelings Are Fine, But a Consensus Is Divine," 8 May 2018
Fix You – Paradise: Alex & Maia Shibutani (USA) Navigating the Coldplay discography is a slippery slope.

— amy parlapiano, SI.com, "A New Kind of Olympic Gold: Awarding Medals for Skating Musical Choices," 13 Feb. 2018
Starring a slick-haired Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman at her most serene, Gattaca is a deserved cult classic, a highlight in the hubristic-humans-playing-God subgenre, the urtext for any discussion of the slippery slope toward eugenics.

— darryn king, WIRED, "Director Andrew Niccol Lives in His Own Truman Show (And So Do You)," 4 May 2018
That slippery slope makes the issue a bioethically precarious one.

— dan sweeney, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Readers mirror broad public support for assisted suicide," 3 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'slippery slope.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.