\Slip"per*y\, a. [See {Slipper}, a.]
1. Having the quality opposite to adhesiveness; allowing or
   causing anything to slip or move smoothly, rapidly, and
   easily upon the surface; smooth; glib; as, oily substances
   render things slippery.
2. Not affording firm ground for confidence; as, a slippery
   promise.
         The slippery tops of human state.     --Cowley.
3. Not easily held; liable or apt to slip away.
         The slippery god will try to loose his hold.
                                               --Dryden.
4. Liable to slip; not standing firm. --Shak.
5. Unstable; changeable; mutable; uncertain; inconstant;
   fickle. ``The slippery state of kings.'' --Denham.
6. Uncertain in effect. --L'Estrange.
7. Wanton; unchaste; loose in morals. --Shak.
{Slippery elm}. (Bot.)
   (a) An American tree ({Ulmus fulva}) with a mucilagenous
       and slightly aromatic inner bark which is sometimes
       used medicinally; also, the inner bark itself.
   (b) A malvaceous shrub ({Fremontia Californica}); -- so
       called on the Pacific coast.