SLEEK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sleek mean? 

• SLEEK (adjective)
  The adjective SLEEK has 3 senses:

1. well-groomed and neatly tailored; especially too well-groomed

2. designed or arranged to offer the least resistant to fluid flow

3. having a smooth, gleaming surface reflecting light

  Familiarity information: SLEEK used as an adjective is uncommon.

• SLEEK (verb)
  The verb SLEEK has 1 sense:

1. make slick or smooth

  Familiarity information: SLEEK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SLEEK (adjective)

Comparative: sleeker   
Superlative: sleekest   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Well-groomed and neatly tailored; especially too well-groomed

Context example:

sleek figures in expensive clothes

Similar:

groomed (neat and smart in appearance; well cared for)

Derivation:

sleekness (the quality of being well-groomed and neatly tailored)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Designed or arranged to offer the least resistant to fluid flow

Synonyms:

aerodynamic; flowing; sleek; streamlined

Context example:

a streamlined convertible

Similar:

smooth (having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Having a smooth, gleaming surface reflecting light

Synonyms:

satiny; silken; silklike; silky; sleek; slick

Context example:

slick seals and otters

Similar:

bright (emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts)

Derivation:

sleekness (the smooth feel of silk fabric)

• SLEEK (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make slick or smooth

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

sleek; slick

Hypernyms (to "sleek" is one way to...):

polish; shine; smooth; smoothen (make (a surface) shine)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

A sleek mule with red trappings was brought round from some neighboring shed for the physician, and he ambled away with much dignity upon his road to Southampton.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

One only he saw,—a sleek gray fellow, flattened against a gray dead limb so that he seemed a part of it, a woody excrescence upon the wood itself.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

A short, sleek, black coat has tan markings on the muzzle, limbs, and chest.

(Black and Tan Coonhound, NCI Thesaurus)

The Greyhound is a sleek, contoured dog built for speed with a very deep chest and a flexible, curved spine.

(Greyhound, NCI Thesaurus)

It wavered and quivered above us for a minute, the morning sun gleaming upon its sleek, sinuous coils.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The Flat-Coated Retriever is a black or liver-colored retriever with a sleek, medium-length, thick coat with well-feathered legs, tail and chest.

(Flat-Coated Retriever, NCI Thesaurus)

His work at the anvil had developed his arms to their utmost, and his healthy country living gave a sleek gloss to his ivory skin, which shone in the lamplight.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Called attention to J. as being beautifully sleek. D. fondled J. Associations thus awakened, opened floodgates of sorrow. Rush of grief admitted. (Are tears the dewdrops of the heart? M.)

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I think (with deference be it spoken) the contrast could not be much greater between a sleek gander and a fierce falcon: between a meek sheep and the rough-coated keen-eyed dog, its guardian.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

It has a short, sleek coat in solid gray, slate gray, cream, red, fawn, black, or blue - often broken up with white markings on the chest and feet, or white with color markings.

(Italian Greyhound, NCI Thesaurus)