Synonyms for oily
- adjective
Synonyms by meaning
Adjective
1. Oleaginous — excessively friendly or polite but insincere
oleaginous, unctuous, fatty, fat, buttery, slick, smarmy, smooth, soapy, suave, adipose, fulsome, glib, insincere, obsequious, sycophantic, fair-spoken, adulatory, slippery, bland, flattering, fawning
Definitions
- adj. 1
Resembling oil.
- adj. 2
Excessively friendly or polite but insincere.
Near-synonyms: slick, buttery; smarmy
- adj. 3
Covered with or containing oil.
oily machinery; oily rags; oily fish; oily cooking
Example sentences
- fat Between you and me, the fat ugly man is on a diet.
- fatty Fats are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol.
- unctuous They resented how his unctuous flattery tended to obtrude into serious meetings.
- oiled Fadil's prostitution house ran like a well-oiled machine.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| oily | steady | |
| fat | rising | |
| fatty | steady | |
| unctuous | rising | |
| oleaginous | falling | |
| oiled | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 3 letters
- fat1
- 4 letters
- glib1
- 5 letters
- fatty2, slick1, bland1, oiled1, suave1, soapy2
- 6 letters
- smooth1, greasy2, smarmy2, oilish
- 7 letters
- buttery3, adipose3, fawning2, fulsome2, oillike
- 8 letters
- slippery3, unctuous2
- 9 letters
- insincere3, sebaceous3, adulatory, lubricous
- 10 letters
- flattering3, obsequious4, oleaginous5
- 11 letters
- sycophantic4
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (fatty2 = 2 syllables).