sleek
/sliːk/ adjective, adverb, verb, noun
Forms sleeker sleekest sleeks sleeking sleeked
- adjective Having an even, smooth surface; smooth “sleek hair”
- adjective Glossy.
- adjective Not rough or harsh.
- adjective Slim and streamlined; not plump, thick, or stocky.
- adjective (of stock animals) Healthy, well-fed and well-groomed; in good condition.
- adverb (dated, colloquial) With ease and dexterity.
- verb (transitive) To make smooth or glossy; to polish.
- verb (transitive, dated) To calm or soothe.
- verb (intransitive, dated) To glide.
- noun That which makes smooth; varnish.
Synonyms
frictionless silky downy even flat lanate level silken silklike slick slight smooth velutinous velvety glacé sheeny glassy glossy lacquerlike satiny streamlined aerodynamic flowing
Etymology
A late variant of slick; cognate to German schleichen (Old High German slihhan) and Dutch slijk (“mud, slime”). Compare slink.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Having an even, smooth surface; smooth; hence, glossy; as, sleek hair. Chaucer.
- adjective Not rough or harsh.
- adverb With ease and dexterity. [Low]
- noun That which makes smooth; varnish. [R.]
Etymology [OE. slik; akin to Icel. slikr, and OE. sliken to glide, slide, G. schleichen, OHG. slihhan, D. slik, slijk, mud, slime, and E. slink. Cf. Slick, Slink.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sleek”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details