slinky

See also: Slinky

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

English slink

English -y

English slinky

From slink + -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈslɪŋki/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪŋki
• Homophone: Slinky

Adjective

slinky (comparative slinkier, superlative slinkiest)

1. Furtive, stealthy or catlike.
   • 1920 March – 1921 February, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter 19, in Indiscretions of Archie, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, […], 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^[1], →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.

2. (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^[sic] 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 shouls for him."

3. Of a garment: close-fitting; clingy.
   • 2017 October 2, Jess Cartner-Morle, “Stella McCartney lays waste to disposable fashion in Paris”, in the Guardian‎^[2]:

     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

• (furtive): sneaky, surreptitious; see also Thesaurus:covert
• (thin): lithe, willowy; see also Thesaurus:slender
• (of a garment): figure-hugging, snug; see also Thesaurus:close-fitting

Derived terms

• slinkily
• slinkiness

Anagrams

• linksy, kylins, Lykins, Linsky