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slippery slope

slip·per·y slope
S s

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [slip-uh-ree, slip-ree slohp]
    • /ˈslɪp ə ri, ˈslɪp ri sloʊp/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [slip-uh-ree, slip-ree slohp]
    • /ˈslɪp ə ri, ˈslɪp ri sloʊp/

Definitions of slippery slope words

  • noun slippery slope a dangerous and irreversible course: the slippery slope from narcotics to prison. 1
  • noun slippery slope sth that will inevitably end badly 1
  • phrase slippery slope If someone is on a slippery slope, they are involved in a course of action that is difficult to stop and that will eventually lead to failure or trouble. 0
  • noun slippery slope a course of action that will lead to disaster or failure 0
  • noun slippery slope a course or situation regarded as easily or inevitably leading to further decline or deterioration 0
See all 5 definitions of slippery slope

Information block about the term

Origin of slippery slope

First appearance:

before 1985
One of the 1% newest English words
First recorded in 1985-90

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Slippery slope

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Slippery slope

slippery slope popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 31% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data about 70% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

slippery slope usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for slippery slope

noun slippery slope

  • cause and effect — You use cause and effect to talk about the way in which one thing is caused by another.
  • domino effect — the cumulative effect that results when one event precipitates a series of like events.
  • domino theory — a theory that if one country is taken over by an expansionist, especially Communist, neighbor, party, or the like, the nearby nations will be taken over one after another.
  • knock-on — If there is a knock-on effect, one action or event causes several other events to happen one after the other.
  • knock-on effect — a chain reaction.
All 5 Synonyms of slippery slope

See also

Matching words

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