different between slick vs superficial

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sl?k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Etymology 1

From Middle English slicke, slike, slyke, from Old English sl?c (“sleek, smooth; crafty, cunning, slick”), from Proto-Germanic *sl?kaz (“sleek, smooth”),from Proto-Indo-European *sleyg-, *sley?- (“to glide, smooth, spread”). Akin to Dutch sluik, dialectal Dutch sleek (“even, smooth”), Old Norse slíkr (“sleek, smooth”), Old English slician (“to make sleek, smooth, or glossy”).

Adjective

slick (comparative slicker, superlative slickest)

1. Slippery or smooth due to a covering of liquid; often used to describe appearances.

   This rain is making the roads slick.

   The top coating of lacquer gives this finish a slick look.

   His large round head was shaved slick.

2. Appearing expensive or sophisticated.

   They read all kinds of slick magazines.

3. Superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy.

   That new sales rep is slick. Be sure to read the fine print before you buy anything.

   • 2014, Ian Black, "Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian, 27 November 2014:

     The threat the most radical of them pose is evidently far greater at home than abroad: in one characteristically slick and chilling Isis video – entitled “a message to the Jordanian tyrant” – a smiling, long-haired young man in black pats the explosive belt round his waist as he burns his passport and his fellow fighters praise the memory of Zarqawi, who was killed in Iraq in 2006.

4. (often used sarcastically) Clever, making an apparently hard task easy.

   Our new process for extracting needles from haystacks is extremely slick.

   That was a slick move, locking your keys in the car.

5. (US, West Coast slang) Extraordinarily great or special.

   That is one slick bicycle: it has all sorts of features!

6. sleek; smooth

Translations

Noun

slick (plural slicks)

1. A covering of liquid, particularly oil.

2. (by extension, hydrodynamics, US, dated) A rapidly-expanding ring of dark water, resembling an oil slick, around the site of a large underwater explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress through the water of the shock wave generated by the explosion.
3. Someone who is clever and untrustworthy.
4. A tool used to make something smooth or even.
5. (sports, automotive) A tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern, often used in auto racing.

   Synonyms: slick tire, slick tyre

6. (US, military slang) A helicopter.
7. (printing) A camera-ready image to be used by a printer. The "slick" is photographed to produce a negative image which is then used to burn a positive offset plate or other printing device.

8. A wide paring chisel used in joinery.

Coordinate terms

(phenomenon from underwater explosion):

• crack

Translations

Verb

slick (third-person singular simple present slicks, present participle slicking, simple past and past participle slicked)

1. To make slick.

   The surface had been slicked.

Related terms

• slick as snot
• slick cam
• slicker
• slicken
• slick back
• slick down
• slickstone
• slick-tech
• slick up

Etymology 2

Noun

slick

1. Alternative form of schlich

Anagrams

• Licks, licks

English

Etymology

From Latin superfici?lis.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?sup??f???l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s(j)u?p??f???l/
• Rhymes: -???l
• Hyphenation: su?per?fi?cial

Adjective

superficial (comparative more superficial, superlative most superficial)

1. Of or pertaining to the surface.
2. Being near the surface.
3. Shallow, lacking substance.
4. At face value.
5. (rare) Two-dimensional; drawn on a flat surface.

Synonyms

• (of or pertaining to the surface): surficial

Antonyms

• in-depth
• thorough
• (lacking substance): substantive

Derived terms

• superficially
• superficiality

Translations

Noun

superficial (plural superficials)

1. (chiefly in plural) A surface detail.

   He always concentrates on the superficials and fails to see the real issue.

Related terms

• superfice (archaic)

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin superfici?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /su.p??.fi.si?al/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /su.p?r.fi.si?al/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /su.pe?.fi.si?al/

Adjective

superficial (masculine and feminine plural superficials)

1. superficial

Derived terms

• superficialitat
• superficialment

Related terms

• superfície

Further reading

• “superficial” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “superficial” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
• “superficial” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “superficial” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin superfici?lis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

superficial m or f (plural superficiais)

1. superficial
2. surficial; of the surface

Derived terms

• superficialidade
• superficialmente

Related terms

• superficie

Further reading

• “superficial” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Interlingua

Adjective

superficial (not comparable)

1. superficial (pertaining to the surface)

Related terms

• superficie

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin superfici?lis.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /?su.pe?.fi.si.?aw/

Adjective

superficial m or f (plural superficiais, comparable)

1. Shallow, lacking substance.

Derived terms

• superficialidade
• superficialismo
• superficialmente

Related terms

• superfície

Further reading

• “superficial” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

From French superficiel

Adjective

superficial m or n (feminine singular superficial?, masculine plural superficiali, feminine and neuter plural superficiale)

1. shallow (about people)

Declension

Related terms

• superficialitate

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin superfici?lis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /supe?fi??jal/, [su.pe?.fi??jal]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America) /supe?fi?sjal/, [su.pe?.fi?sjal]

Adjective

superficial (plural superficiales)

1. superficial
2. shallow, lacking substance

Derived terms

Related terms

• superficie

Further reading

• “superficial” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.