Slippery is an adjectivea word that describes a noun or pronoun with two main meanings. It can describe a surface that makes things slidemove smoothly over a surface with little friction, or it can describe a person who is hard to trustbelieve someone is honest, reliable, or truthful or hard to pin down.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Pronunciation
AI-generated pronunciation audio (OpenAI).
Accent: General American English
IPA: /ˈslɪpəri/
Easy pronunciation: SLIP-uh-ree (approximate spelling).
Stress: Stress the first syllable: SLIP-uh-ree.
Primary sense: adjective meaning causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Slippery Meaning
hard to stand on or hold because things can slide off it
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: causing or tending to cause things to slip or slide
Example: Be careful on the slippery sidewalk after the rain.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- slippy — A direct synonym in the physical sense of being easy to slip on.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Other Meanings of Slippery
Meaning 2
dishonest or hard to trust
Part of speech: adjective
Definition: not to be trusted
Example: He gave a slippery answer and avoided the question.
Synonyms for this meaning:
- tricky — Can fit this sense when someone seems evasive or hard to trust.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: uncertain — manual review needed. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Slippery Synonyms
Similar Meaning
- slippy
not to be trusted
- tricky
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: uncertain — manual review needed. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Common Mistakes
- Do not use slippery as a synonym for ‘difficult’ in general unless the idea is specifically about sliding or being hard to trust.
- The ‘dishonest/evasive’ meaning is different from the physical surface meaning.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does slippery mean?
Slippery usually means either that a surface is hard to walk on because things slide, or that a person is not trustworthy and avoids giving straight answers.
What are slippery synonyms?
For the surface meaning, a good synonym is slippy. For the trust-related meaning, tricky can work in the right context.
Is slippery a positive word?
Usually no. It often suggests danger in the physical sense, or dishonesty and evasiveness in the figurative sense.
Reviewed with OpenAI Decisions. Assessment: accurate. Checked: 2026-10-29. AI assessment; not a guarantee of accuracy.
