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Tact vs Slick - What's the difference?

tact | slick |

As a noun tact

is the sense of touch; feeling.

As a verb tact

is (psychology) to use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).

As a proper noun slick is

a term of address, generally applied to males, possibly including strangers, implying that the person addressed is slick in the sense of "sophisticated", but often used sarcastically.

tact

English

(wikipedia tact) (Webster 1913)

Noun

(en noun)
  • The sense of touch; feeling.
  • *
    • Did you suppose that I could not make myself sensible to tact as well as sight?
  • * J. Le Conte
    • Now, sight is a very refined tact .
  • (music) The stroke in beating time.
  • Sensitive mental touch; peculiar skill or faculty; nice perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances.
  • *
    • He had formed plans not inferior in grandeur and boldness to those of Richelieu, and had carried them into effect with a tact and wariness worthy of Mazarin.
  • *
    • A tact' which surpassed the '''tact''' of her sex as much as the '''tact''' of her sex surpassed the ' tact of ours.
  • The ability to deal with embarrassing situations carefully and without doing or saying anything that will annoy or upset other people; careful consideration in dealing with others to avoid giving offense; the ability to say the right thing.
    • By the use of tact , she was able to calm her jealous husband.
    I used tact when I told my fat uncle that his extra weight made him look better.
  • (psychology) A verbal operant which is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus (such as an object, event, or property of an object) and is maintained by nonspecific social reinforcement (praise).
  • * 2013 , Jacob L. Gewirtz, William M. Kurtines, Jacob L. Lamb, Intersections With Attachment
    • Skinner (1957) saw such tacts as responses that are reinforced socially.

    Derived terms

    * tactful * tactless

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (psychology) To use a tact (a kind of verbal operant; see noun sense).

    • External links

    * * ----

    slick

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Slippery due to a covering of liquid; often used to describe appearances.
    • This rain is making the roads slick .
    The top coating of lacquer gives this finish a slick look.
  • Appearing expensive or sophisticated.
    • They read all kinds of slick magazines.
  • Superficially convincing but actually untrustworthy.
    • That new sales rep is slick . Be sure to read the fine print before you buy anything.
  • * 2014 , Ian Black, " Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis", The Guardian , 27 November 2014:
    • The threat the most radical of them pose is evidently far greater at home than abroad: in one characteristically slick and chilling Isis video – entitled “a message to the Jordanian tyrant” – a smiling, long-haired young man in black pats the explosive belt round his waist as he burns his passport and his fellow fighters praise the memory of Zarqawi, who was killed in Iraq in 2006.
  • Clever, making an apparently hard task easy; often used sarcastically.
    • Our new process for extracting needles from haystacks is extremely slick .
    That was a slick move, locking your keys in the car.
  • Extraordinarily great or special.
    • That is one slick bicycle: it has all sorts of features!
  • sleek; smooth
  • * Chapman
    • Both slick and dainty.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A covering of liquid, particularly oil.
    • Careful in turn three — there's an oil slick on the road.
    The oil slick has now spread to cover the entire bay, critically endangering the sea life.
  • Someone who is clever and untrustworthy.
  • A tool used to make something smooth or even.
  • (sports, automotive) A tire with a smooth surface instead of a tread pattern, often used in auto racing.
    • You'll go much faster if you put on slicks .
  • A helicopter.
  • (printing) A camera-ready image to be used by a printer. The "slick" is photographed to produce a negative image which is then used to burn a positive offset plate or other printing device.
    • The project was delayed because the slick had not been delivered to the printer.
  • A wide paring chisel used in joinery.

    • Synonyms

    * (tyre) slick tire, slick tyre

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make slick
    • The surface had been slicked .
  • * {{quote-news,
    • year=2009, date=January 14, author=Melissa Clark, title=Green, Gold and Pink: Fast, Easy and Delicious, url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/dining/14appe.html, work=New York Times, passage=So I slicked the broccoli with oil and seasonings and set it to roast.}}

    Derived terms

    * slicker * slicken * slick back

    Anagrams

    *