adj
Meaning 1
Made of silk.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
Examples
- a silken veil
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
silken
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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/ˈsɪlkən/
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US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɪlkən
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CMU ARPABET: S IH1 L K AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
adj
Meaning 2
Synonym of silky, like silk, silklike, particularly
Having a smooth, soft, or light texture.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 3
Synonym of silky, like silk, silklike, particularly
Suave.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 4
Synonym of silky, like silk, silklike, particularly
Having a smooth, soft, or flowing utterance; attractive or (typically derogatory) convincing through pleasing expression.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: figuratively, not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adj
Meaning 5
Dressed in silk.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: not-comparable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
verb
Meaning 6
To render silken or silklike.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
- silkening body lotion
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
adjective satellite
Meaning 7
having a smooth, gleaming surface reflecting light
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
- glossy auburn hair
- satiny gardenia petals
- sleek black fur
- silken eyelashes
- silky skin
- a silklike fabric
- slick seals and otters
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: satiny, sleek, silky, silklike, slick
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English silken, selken, seolkene, from Old English seolcen, from seolc (“silk”) + -en, from an unattested early Proto-West Germanic borrowing from Latin sēricum, from Ancient Greek σηρικός (sērikós, “silken”), from σήρ (sḗr, “silkworm”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”). Equivalent to silk + -en (“made of”). Cognate with Scots selkin, silkin (“silken”), Icelandic silki (“silken”).
Across languages
Translations
18 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Armenian: մետաքսյա (metakʻsya) — made of silk
- Armenian: մետաքսե (metakʻse) — made of silk
- Armenian: աբրեշումե (abrešume) — made of silk
- Bulgarian: копринен (koprinen) — made of silk
- Czech: hedvábný — made of silk
- Dutch: zijden — made of silk
- Esperanto: silka — made of silk
- German: seiden — made of silk
- Ancient Greek: σηρικός (sērikós) — made of silk
- Hungarian: selyem — made of silk
- Ingrian: šulkkuin — made of silk
- Italian: di seta — made of silk
- Italian: serico — made of silk
- Old English: seolcen — made of silk
- Polish: jedwabny — made of silk
- Russian: шёлковый (šólkovyj) — made of silk
- Spanish: de seda — made of silk
- Italian: setoso — smoothly spoken or sung