oily

Definition

Covered with or containing oil.

Etymology

From Middle English oylei, equivalent to oil + -y. Compare German ölig (“oily”), Swedish oljig (“oily”).

Example Sentences

• "oily machinery;   oily rags;   oily fish;   oily cooking"
• "His clothes were apt to look oily and smell of eating-houses."
• "[…] overdressed young men of enigmatic appearance, with oily thick hair, shifty eyes, and hands covered with cheap rings, swaggered about smoking cigarettes and talking in loud, ostentatious voices."