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slippery

1. Having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; allowing or causing anything to slip or move smoothly, rapidly, and easily upon the surface; smooth; glib; as, oily substances render things slippery.

2. Not affording firm ground for confidence; as, a slippery promise. The slippery tops of human state. (Cowley)

3. Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away. The slippery god will try to loose his hold. (Dryden)

4. Liable to slip; not standing firm.

5. Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant; fickle. The slippery state of kings.

6. Uncertain in effect.

7. Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals. Slippery elm.

(Science: botany) An American tree (ulmus fulva) with a mucilagenous and slightly aromatic inner bark which is sometimes used medicinally; also, the inner bark itself. A malvaceous shrub (Fremontia Californica); so called on the Pacific coast.

See: slipper.