city slicker
6
6.7
- noun
- /ˈsɪti ˈslɪkər/
- Informal
:
ciudadano
- Gentlemen, I ask you, what do we care what a bunch of foreigners and city slickers think?
- cowboys and city slickers
- look like a city slicker
- even a city slicker
Everybody wants a nice kettle, a nice watch, whether you're a city slicker, a farmer, a gangster.
- Everybody wants a nice kettle, a nice watch, whether you're a city slicker, a farmer, a gangster.
- As one scholar of the Jim Crow system said, Jim Crow wasn't just a redneck, he was a city slicker.
Examples
-
Some of you city slickers might not understand this (not all, just some of you more stubborn ones).
Blog text (14) -
Cody has lots of city slickers with comfy city jobs; many probably never leave town.
Blog text (33) -
Slow down there, city slicker.
-
Go back home, you city slicker.
-
Ed must have seen me coming a mile off, city slicker that I am.
Fiction book (1997) -
Short nights for city slickers out on the farm.
Blog text (9) -
If you're such a city slicker, what are you doing in St. Luke?
-
Look at Willis, the city slicker.
-
Everybody wants a nice kettle, a nice watch, whether you're a city slicker, a farmer, a gangster.
-
Many city slickers struggle to adapt when they visit rural areas for the first time.
Synonyms
15
4.5
A man or boy who lives in a city and often dresses in smart clothes
8
3.9
A woman who lives in a city and likes fashion and busy city life
5
4.1
A person who lives in a city and is used to city life
4
8.1
A man who often goes to restaurants, parties, and the theater for fun
2
3.8
A person who lives in a city rather than in the countryside
1
7.3
A person who lives in the nicer, more expensive part of a city
1
9.8
A person who lives in a town and seems out of place in the country
1
5.8
A person who lives in a city and prefers city life
1
9.9
A man who often spends time on stylish city streets and in cafes and acts socially confident
A person who prefers city life and dislikes life in the country
Antonyms
How Urban
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'city' (urban) + 'slicker' (a smooth/sophisticated person), so a learner who knows both constituents can readily infer 'a sophisticated or urbane person from the city' and by extension that they may be inexperienced with rural life. This follows a standard modifier+noun pattern and is thus directly derivable from the parts.
Etymology
City slicker may come from how country people saw neat, smooth-looking visitors from town: city for town and slicker for someone who looked very neat and smart. Farmers used it to tease people who did not know farm life, so today city slicker means 'a person from the city who is used to city life and not comfortable in the country'.