slicked up
- idiom
- US
:
arreglado
- He arrived at the interview with his suit slicked up and looking sharp.
Examples
-
After spending hours on her hair, she finally had it all slicked up for the party.
-
Look at this whole space all slicked up, looking awesome.
-
With his car slicked up and polished, he was ready for the show.
Synonyms
144
1.0
Clean and tidy with things in order
47
1.0
Having things in order with no mess
20
3.7
Having a neat, stylish appearance from careful grooming
9
3.5
Neat and tidy in appearance with clean clothes and neat hair
7
6.9
Dressed in fancy clothes and makeup for a special event
3
4.6
Neat and attractive, often dressed or decorated for a special occasion
2
4.1
Neatly trimmed and kept to look perfect, like a lawn or nails
1
7.4
Dressed in nice clothes or made to look neat and attractive
To wear nice clothes for a special event
Neat and clean in appearance because someone cares for it
Antonyms
How Neat
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'slicked' (styled to be shiny/neat) plus the particle 'up' (resultative/intensifying meaning 'made' or 'fully'), so a learner who knows both words can infer 'made especially tidy/groomed.' This follows a common English pattern (e.g., dressed up, cleaned up) that is likely familiar to B1 learners, making the expression compositionally transparent.
Etymology
The phrase slicked up may come from the old habit of making hair or surfaces very smooth and shiny with oil or gel; slick means smooth and up gives the idea of doing it fully. When hair or clothes are smoothed and shiny they look neat and smart, so slicked up now means 'made tidy' or 'well-groomed'.