Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Having a smooth, glossy, and shiny surface: Describes something with a very smooth and reflective appearance, often due to being well-gressed, polished, or healthy.
   • Streamlined; designed for minimal resistance: Describes an object, often a vehicle or animal, with a smooth, efficient shape that allows it to move easily through air or water.
   • Well-groomed, sophisticated, and often suggesting wealth or excessive neatness: Describes a person's polished, elegant, and sometimes overly refined appearance.

2. Verb:

   • To make smooth, glossy, or sleek: The action of smoothing or polishing something to give it a shiny, sleek appearance.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • The cat's sleek fur shone in the sunlight.
  • The new sports car has a sleek, aerodynamic design.
  • He had the sleek look of a successful business executive.

• Verb:

  • She sleeked her hair back with gel before the meeting.

Advanced Usage

• "Sleek and slender": A common pairing to describe something that is both elegantly smooth and thin.

  • The yacht was sleek and slender, cutting through the waves.

• "Sleek down": To flatten or smooth something, especially hair.

  • He tried to sleek down his unruly curls.

Variants and Related Words

• Sleekly (adverb): In a sleek manner.

  • The car was sleekly designed.

• Sleekness (noun): The quality of being sleek.

  • The sleekness of the animal's coat indicated good health.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Glossy, shiny, smooth, polished, streamlined, silky, slick.
• Verb: Smooth, polish, gloss.

Related Phrases

• Sleek over: To gloss over or make something seem better than it is; to cover up flaws smoothly.
  • The report attempted to sleek over the major problems in the project.

Idioms

• Sleek as a seal: Used to describe something or someone that is exceptionally smooth, shiny, or streamlined.
  • After his swim, his hair was as sleek as a seal.

Adjective

1. having a smooth, gleaming surface reflecting light
   • glossy auburn hair
   • satiny gardenia petals
   • sleek black fur
   • silken eyelashes
   • silky skin
   • a silklike fabric
   • slick seals and otters
2. designed or arranged to offer the least resistant to fluid flow
   • a streamlined convertible
3. well-groomed and neatly tailored; especially too well-groomed
   • sleek figures in expensive clothes

Verb

1. make slick or smooth