English

Adjective

unctuous ‎(comparative more unctuous, superlative most unctuous)

1. (of a liquid or substance) Oily or greasy.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, ch. 96:

     In a word, after being tried out, the crisp, shrivelled blubber, now called scraps or fritters, still contains considerable of its unctuous properties.

2. (of a wine, coffee, etc.) Rich, lush, intense, with layers of concentrated, soft, velvety flavor.
   • 1872, Bayard Taylor, Beauty and The Beast; and Tales of Home, ch. 3:

     The halls and passages of the castle were already permeated with rich and unctuous smells, and a delicate nose might have picked out and arranged, by their finer or coarser vapors, the dishes preparing for the upper and lower tables.

3. (by extension, of a person) Profusely polite, especially unpleasantly so and insincerely earnest.
   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, page 14 (ISBN 1857150570)

     Then he thoroughly disliked the tone of Mr. Slope's letter; it was unctuous, false, and unwholesome, like the man.

   • 1919, Stephen Leacock, The Hohenzollerns in America, ch. 8:

     In superior circles, however, introduction becomes more elaborate, more flattering, more unctuous.

Synonyms

• (of a liquid): oleaginous, saponaceous, slimy
• (of wine, coffee, etc.): savorous
• (profusely, especially unpleasantly, polite): creepy, effusive, groveling, oleaginous, slimy, sycophantic

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations