as in oily
overly or insincerely flattering
the office manager greeted the corporate bigwigs with an oleaginous welcome that should have embarrassed him
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Recent Examples of oleaginous
His widow doesn’t exactly look too broken up; less than a week after his death, Lee spots her snuggling with Dale’s brother Donald, an oleaginous candidate for governor played by Kyle MacLachlan.
—
Judy Berman, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
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
Judy Berman, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for oleaginous
Adjective
-
Cold winds and low humidity sap moisture, leaving even typically oily skin feeling dry and sensitive.—
Conçetta Ciarlo,
Vogue,
28 Jan. 2026
-
In my experience, moisturizers for dry skin tend to be unctuously thick, which can trigger breakouts, while those made for oily skin are often too light to make a difference.—
Jacqueline Kilikita,
Refinery29,
22 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Some bars are dry on the tongue, others are unctuous.—
Nina Metz,
Chicago Tribune,
23 Jan. 2026
-
Field peas, red rice and the best part — oxtail — cooked down, down and down again into a warm, unctuous delight.—
Timothy DePeugh,
Charlotte Observer,
15 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
But Pretti’s last seconds were captured from multiple angles, in sickening footage widely distributed on social media and by news organizations.—
Charlie Warzel,
The Atlantic,
25 Jan. 2026
-
The sickening lies told about our son by the administration are reprehensible and disgusting.—
WCCO Staff,
CBS News,
24 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Of course, a person making a hagiographic documentary about the production of the show for Netflix probably isn’t the world’s most neutral source.—
Sharon Adarlo,
Futurism,
14 Jan. 2026
-
In a way, then, a documentary like Angus Wall’s Being Eddie, a generally amiable and adulatory 90 minutes streaming on Netflix, fails; with its softly hagiographic approach, the director never pushes Eddie Murphy to any place that feels untapped or confrontational, and therefore newsworthy.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Clean the door thoroughly with hot, soapy water to remove grease and grime.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
The Spruce,
11 Jan. 2026
-
All that’s required is hot, soapy water and a sponge.—
Patricia Shannon,
Better Homes & Gardens,
29 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
This popular usage makes abundant sense.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
24 Jan. 2026
-
The weavers replaced by textile mills saw their craft vanish, but clothing became cheaper and more abundant.—
Zack Kass,
Fortune,
23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The Social Security Administration sent a gushy, questionable email July 4 to millions of people collecting Social Security benefits and others.—
Susan Tompor,
USA Today,
21 July 2025
-
The chatter has only grown in recent days, after Ms. Anderson — who just celebrated a birthday — posted a story on her Instagram account, showing a lavish bouquet of flowers and a gushy card from an admirer.—
Jesse McKinley,
New York Times,
12 Dec. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Oleaginous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/oleaginous. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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