Adjacent Words

Oily definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

OIL'Y, a.
1. Consisting of oil; containing oil; having the qualities of oil; as oily matter or substance.
2. Resembling oil; as an oily appearance.
3. Fatty; greasy.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: containing an unusual amount of grease or oil; "greasy hamburgers"; "oily fried potatoes"; "oleaginous seeds" [syn: greasy, oily, sebaceous, oleaginous]
2: unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech; "buttery praise"; "gave him a fulsome introduction"; "an oily sycophantic press agent"; "oleaginous hypocrisy"; "smarmy self-importance"; "the unctuous Uriah Heep"; "soapy compliments" [syn: buttery, fulsome, oily, oleaginous, smarmy, soapy, unctuous]
3: coated or covered with oil; "oily puddles in the streets"
4: smeared or soiled with grease or oil; "greasy coveralls"; "get rid of rubbish and oily rags" [syn: greasy, oily]

Merriam Webster's

adjective (oilier; -est) Date: 14th century 1. of, relating to, or consisting of oil 2. a. covered or impregnated with oil <oily rags> b. relatively high in naturally secreted oils <oily skin> <oily hair> 3. excessively smooth or suave in manner • oilily adverb • oiliness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. (oilier, oiliest) 1 of, like, or containing much oil. 2 covered or soaked with oil. 3 (of a manner etc.) fawning, insinuating, unctuous. Derivatives: oilily adv. oiliness n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Oily Oil"y, a. [Compar. Oilier; superl. Oiliest.] 1. Consisting of oil; containing oil; having the nature or qualities of oil; unctuous; oleaginous; as, oily matter or substance. --Bacon. 2. Covered with oil; greasy; hence, resembling oil; as, an oily appearance. 3. Smoothly subservient; supple; compliant; plausible; insinuating. ``This oily rascal.'' --Shak. His oily compliance in all alterations. --Fuller. Oily grain (Bot.), the sesame. Oily palm, the oil palm.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(oilier, oiliest) 1. Something that is oily is covered with oil or contains oil. He was wiping his hands on an oily rag... When she was younger, she had very oily skin... ADJ 2. Oily means looking, feeling, tasting, or smelling like oil. ...traces of an oily substance. ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. If you describe someone as oily, you dislike them because you think they are too polite or say exaggeratedly nice things, and are insincere. He had behaved with undue and oily familiarity... = smarmy ADJ [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Unctuous, greasy, oleaginous, sebaceous, fatty, fat, oleose, oleous. 2. Unctuous, smooth, glib, lubricous, oleaginous, supple-chapped, plausible. 3. Supple, compliant, subservient.

Moby Thesaurus

Pecksniffian, adipose, adulatory, bland, blandishing, blarneying, blubbery, buttery, butyraceous, cajoling, canting, chrismal, chrismatory, complimentary, courtierly, courtly, disarming, fair-spoken, fat, fatty, fawning, fine-spoken, flattering, fulsome, glib, goody-goody, greased, greasy, gushing, holier-than-thou, honey-mouthed, honey-tongued, honeyed, hypocritic, hypocritical, ingratiating, insincere, insinuating, lardaceous, lardy, lubric, lubricated, lubricious, mealymouthed, mucoid, obsequious, oiled, oily-tongued, oleaginous, oleic, pharisaic, pharisean, rich, sanctimonious, sebaceous, servile, simon-pure, sleek, slick, sliddery, slimy, slippery, slippy, slithery, slobbery, smarmy, smooth, smooth-spoken, smooth-tongued, smug, soaped, soapy, soft-soaping, soft-spoken, sophisticated, suave, suave-spoken, suety, sycophantic, tallowy, unctuous, unguent, unguentary, unguentous, urbane, wheedling