SINCE 1828
slippery slope
nounDefinition of slippery slope
: a course of action that seems to lead inevitably from one action or result to another with unintended consequences
Examples of slippery slope in a Sentence
His behavior will lead him down a slippery slope to ruin.
Recent Examples on the Web
While platforms like Soundcloud can act as a slippery slope as to quantity over quality in music, Warm Digits’ remix hits the Goldilocks zone between those two extremes: it’s simply a second set of hands in service of the song. — Morgan Enos, Billboard, "Manic Street Preachers Talk Ownership In the Digital Era, Share Remix From Warm Digits: Premiere," 24 May 2018 This slippery slope is how entitlements always work, as economic historian John Cogan amply demonstrates in his recent book. — The Editorial Board, WSJ, "The GOP’s Social Security Raid," 20 Aug. 2018 Those on the opposing side contend that such assistance violates one of the core principles of their profession — do no harm — and could become a slippery slope to euthanasia. — Lindsey Bever, Washington Post, "The American Medical Association has long opposed assisted suicide. Is that about to change?," 10 June 2018 Those on the opposing side contend that such assistance violates one of the core principles of their profession — do no harm — and could become a slippery slope to euthanasia. — Lindsey Bever, BostonGlobe.com, "American Medical Association to reconsider policy against assisted suicide," 10 June 2018 But where some see a new form of medicine that eliminates genetic disease, others see a slippery slope to enhancements, designer babies and a new form of eugenics. — Recode Staff, Recode, "Recode Daily: Google spends $1 billion on a 52-acre office park in space-constrained Silicon Valley," 27 Nov. 2018 Archaeologists have to contend with steep, soft-sided, slippery slopes. — Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, "Hominins lived in China 2.1 million years ago," 11 July 2018 There’s no feeling quite like the rush of speeding down the slippery slope into a refreshing pool of cool water. — Jessica Levy, USA TODAY, "6 reasons you’re going to love the outdoors in Asheville, North Carolina," 30 Apr. 2018 But what's happening now is quickly sliding down a slippery slope toward harassment, denial of service and abusive behavior. — Howard Kurtz, Fox News, "Targeting Trump aides: The politics of rage is out of control," 26 June 2018These 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.
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