View synonyms for

slippery slope

noun

a dangerous and irreversible course:
the slippery slope from narcotics to prison.

Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of slippery slope¹

First recorded in 1985–90

Discover More

Idioms and Phrases

A dangerous course, one that leads easily to catastrophe, as in He's on a slippery slope, compromising his values to please both the bosses and the union . This metaphoric expression alludes to traversing a slick hillside, in constant danger of falling. [Mid-1900s]

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

While framed as applying to the foreign-born, deprived of the rights endowed by their creator, there is no need to argue that this poses the threat of a slippery slope: a government that has already expelled legal immigrants is obviously capable of falsely labeling a U.S. citizen a member of this enemy class, and indeed its top officials are arguing that such “inevitable errors” are a small price to pay for cleansing “the blood of the country.”

From

And I think we all need to, because it's a slippery slope.

From

Critics say Canada is an example of the "slippery slope", meaning that once you pass an assisted dying law it will inevitably widen its scope and have fewer safeguards.

From

"I wouldn't even call it a slippery slope," she says "Canada has fallen off a cliff."

From

So is Canada an example of the so-called slippery slope?

From

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

slippery elm slippy

Browse