Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Causing or tending to cause sliding or slipping.
  • adjective Tending to slip, as from one's grasp.
  • adjective Not trustworthy; elusive or tricky.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having such smoothness of surface as to cause slipping or sliding, or to render grip or hold difficult; not affording firm footing or secure hold.
  • Hence That cannot be depended on or trusted; uncertain; untrustworthy; apt to play one false; dishonest: as, he is a slippery person to deal with; slippery politicians.
  • Liable to slip or lose footing.
  • Unstable; changeable; mutable.
  • Lubric; wanton; unchaste.
  • Crafty; sly.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; allowing or causing anything to slip or move smoothly, rapidly, and easily upon the surface; smooth; glib.
  • adjective Not affording firm ground for confidence.
  • adjective Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away.
  • adjective Liable to slip; not standing firm.
  • adjective Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant; fickle.
  • adjective Uncertain in effect.
  • adjective Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals.
  • adjective (Bot.) A malvaceous shrub (Fremontia Californica); -- so called on the Pacific coast.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Of a surface, having low friction, often due to being covered in a non-viscous liquid, and therefore hard to grip, hard to stand on without falling, etc.
  • adjective figuratively, by extension Evasive; difficult to pin down.
  • adjective obsolete Liable to slip; not standing firm.
  • adjective unstable; changeable; inconstant
  • adjective obsolete wanton; unchaste; loose in morals

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not to be trusted
  • adjective causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of obsolete slipper, from Middle English, from Old English slipor; see lei- in Indo-European roots.]

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