Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
slinky. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
slinky, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
slinky in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
slinky you have here. The definition of the word
slinky will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
slinky, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From slink + -y.
Pronunciation
Adjective
slinky (comparative slinkier, superlative slinkiest)
- Furtive, stealthy or catlike.
1920 March – 1921 February, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 19, in Indiscretions of Archie, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, publishers , published 1921, →OCLC:“But of all the awful, second-rate girls I ever met, she’s the worst! […] She’s a sly, creepy, slinky, made-up, insincere vampire! She’s common! She’s awful! She’s a cat!”
2018 March 5, Brian Seibert, “Review: Tapping Out Some New World Rhythms”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:The concert touched on all this. You could sense history in the various dances of the pianists’ left hands: the slinky syncopations of habanera; the manic but metronomic bounce, in swing, as if between two trampolines.
- (Northumbria, dated) Thin; lank; lean.
1836, Thomas Chandler Haliburton, The Clockmaker, volume 3, London: Richard Bentley, published 1843, page 163:Do you see that are tall, limber-timbered, slinky-lookin' man with the blue cloak and two long black cords a-hangin' from it with almighty big tassels a-danglin' to the eend of it like the lamp-rope there, a-carryin' part of the cloak folded on one arm like a Roman senator, and t'other arm kimber, with his hat cockaded military like?--well, that is General Conrad Corncob.
1871, Henry Holl, The Golden Bait, volume 3, page 9:"Oh--that," said Mrs. Savaker, jerking her head in the direction of the defunct exciseman; "that war my husband, and war thow't a gude likeness. But it's not. It's not half red enough, an a deal too slinky in the should for him."
- Of a garment: close-fitting; clingy.
2017 October 2, Jess Cartner-Morle, “Stella McCartney lays waste to disposable fashion in Paris”, in the Guardian:The double-breasted blazer which is on every front row this season came with an elbow-length sleeve for spring, while jumpsuits, a signature of the label, came slinky and tailored or in a blowsier boiler suit silhouette.
Synonyms
Anagrams