# slick

> English word · Adjective · IPA /slɪk/ · frequency rank #11,120

## Definitions
1. Slippery or smooth due to a covering of liquid; often used to describe appearances.
2. Sleek; smooth.
3. Appearing expensive or sophisticated.
4. Superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy.
5. Clever, making an apparently hard task look easy.
6. Extraordinarily great or special.

## Etymology
From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English slīc (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *slīkaz (“sleek, smooth”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sleyǵ- (“to glide, smooth, spread”).
Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).

## Easily confused with
- **suck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-suck)
- **slip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-slip)
- **slim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-slim)
- **sock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-sock)
- **slid** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-slid)
- **slit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-slit)
- **stock** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-stock)
- **stick** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-stick)
- **stuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-stuck)
- **slide** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-slide)
- **stack** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-stack)
- **spice** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-spice)
- **snack** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-snack)
- **spicy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-spicy)
- **smack** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-smack)
- **slips** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-slips)
- **stink** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-stink)
- **slime** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-slime)
- **sling** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-sling)
- **snuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/slick-vs-snuck)

## Common misspellings (8)
`lsick`, `silck`, `slcik`, `slicck`, `slickk`, `slikc`, `sllick`, `sslick`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/slick