unctuous

Adjective

1. Having the nature or properties of an unguent or ointment; greasy, oily.
   • It is, of the one part, / A humide exhalation, vvhich vve call / Materia liquida, or the Vnctuous VVater; […] - 1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre,...
   • [H]e ſeveral time obſerved, that cutting a Cheeſe in tvvo, vvhen they vvere any thing near the Equinoctial, that moſt part of it vvould be very dry and brittle, and ſeem'd as if it vvere ſpoil'd: VVhereas the Parts...
   • This tongue [of the pangolin] is round, extremely red, and covered vvith an unctuous and ſlimy liquor, vvhich gives it a ſhining hue. VVhen the pangolin, therefore, approaches an ant-hill, for theſe are the inſects on...

   Synonyms: mellowy oleaginous saponaceous slaistery slimy smarmy unctious unctuose unguinous

   Antonyms: ununctuous

2. Having fat or oil present; fatty, greasy, oily.
   • Meates fatte and vnctuouſe, nouryſheth, and maketh ſoluble. - 153[9], Thomas Elyot, “What Commoditie Happeneth by the Moderate Use of the Sayd Qualities of Meates and Drynkes”, in The Castel of Helth […], London: […]...
   • I my ſelfe vvill haue / The beards of Barbels, ſeru'd, in ſtead of ſallades; / Oyld Muſhromes; and the ſvvelling vnctuous papps / Of a fat pregnant Sovv, nevvly cut off, / Dreſt vvith an exquiſite, and poynant ſauce;...
   • [H]ow can these men not be corrupt, […] warming their Palace Kitchins, and from thence their unctuous, and epicurean paunches, with the almes of the blind, the lame, the impotent, the aged, the orfan, the widow, […] -...
3. Of an aroma or taste, or a beverage (such as coffee or wine) or food (such as gravy, meat, or sauce): having layers of concentrated, velvety flavour; lush, rich.
   • Again, Taſts may properly be ſaid, to be Soft or Hard. A Soft Taſte, is either Vapid, as in VVatery Bodies, VVhites of Eggs, Starch, Fine Boles, &c. Or Unctuous, as in Oyls, Fat, &c. […] Contrary to an Unctuous Taſte,...
   • 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...
   • "Unctuous is probably quite a good description, but there's a sweetness, too, and a mouthfeel," ventures Heston Blumenthal, chef at the Fat Duck at Bray. - 2000 January 28, Oliver Burkeman, “Things that make you go...

   Synonyms: savorous

4. Of soil: soft and sticky.
   • Furthermore, good and excellent Earth ſhould be of the ſame conſtitution, and not of contrary, as ſoft and hard; churliſh and mild; moiſt and dry; not too unctuous nor too lean, but reſoluble, and of a juſt and...
   • Chalk is of tvvo Sorts, the hard dry ſtrong Chalk, vvhich is the beſt for Lime; and a ſoft unctuous Chalk, vvhich is the beſt for Lands, becauſe it eaſily diſſolves vvith Rain and Froſt. - 1708, J[ohn] Mortimer, “Of...
   • Sometimes they kill ſome game, ſometimes they catch fiſh, but in ſuch ſmall quantities, that their hunger is ſo extreme as compels them to eat ſpiders, the eggs of ants, vvorms, lizards, ſerpents, a kind of unctuous...
5. Of a person:

   1. Complacent, self-satisfied, smug.

   2. Profusely polite, especially in an insincere and unpleasant manner.

      • "No bankers' books, or cheque books, or bill, or such tokens of wealth rolling in from day to day?" said old Sol, looking wistfully at his nephew out of the fog that always seemed to hang about him, and laying an...
      • Then he thoroughly disliked the tone of Mr. Slope's letter; it was unctuous, false, and unwholesome, like the man. - 1857, Anthony Trollope, “Mrs. Bold is Entertained by Dr. and Mrs. Grantly at Plumstead”, in Barchester...
      • In superior circles, however, introduction becomes more elaborate, more flattering, more unctuous. - 1919, Stephen Leacock, “The Art of Conversation”, in The Hohenzollerns in America and Other Impossibilities, London:...

      Synonyms: greasy oily oleaginous slimy smarmy asslicky fawning groveling ingratiating obsequious schmoozy self-abasing soapy sucky sycophantic toadyish toadying truckling unctuous