saponaceous

9.9

Feels soapy and slippery when you touch it

adjective
/ˌsæpəˈneɪʃəs/

Specialized

: saponáceo

The saponaceous texture of the plant's leaves made them ideal for creating natural soaps.

Examples

After washing with the saponaceous substance, my hands felt clean and smooth.
Wilberforce's smooth and slippery manner had led a contemporary to call him saponaceous, after the adjective from soap.

Academic text (2008)
A saponaceous film covered the surface of the pond, making it appear slippery and difficult to walk on.

Synonyms

slimy

vssaponaceous

42 2.5

Covered in a wet, slippery layer, like on fish or rocks

is slippery and smooth like washing residue rather than sticky or wet

soapy

vssaponaceous

15 1.0

A slippery, foamy feeling like soap on your skin

emphasizes slipperiness to the touch more than visible foam

sudsy

vssaponaceous

3 1.9

Covered with soap bubbles

focuses on slippery cleaning residue instead of only foam on surface

lubricious

vssaponaceous

1 9.9

Having a smooth, slippery surface because of oil or water

is slippery because of lather or cleaning residue rather than oil

Compounds

saponaceous substance

Specialized

9.6

A substance that acts like soap and foams in water

saponaceous texture

9.9

A smooth, slippery feel like soap

How Soapy

saponaceous

Specialized

9.9

soapy

15 1.0

slippery

80 1.0

slick

56 3.9

Surface Forms

saponaceous positive

Morphology

saponaceous = sapon + aceous

Although the word is historically built from a classical root plus the suffix -aceous, the root is not a common standalone English word, so the meaning is not readily predictable for an average learner.

Etymology

The word saponaceous comes from the Latin root sapon meaning 'soap' and the ending -aceous that means 'like', so a saponaceous surface is 'soap-like' — slippery and soapy to the touch.