unctuous

comparative more unctuous · superlative most unctuous

1. or other substanceHaving the nature or properties of an unguent or ointment; greasy, oily.

   And unctuous meteors from spray to spray / Crept and flitted in broad noon-day / Unseen; […]

   1820, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Sensitive Plant”, in Prometheus Unbound […], London: C[harles] and J[ames] Ollier […], →OCLC, part 3rd, page 170

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   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, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, signature E, verso

   [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 about the middle vvere ſo fat and ſoft, as if all the unctuous Parts that vvere vvanting in the dried Portion of the Cheeſe had retired thither, and vvas betvveen Cream and Cheeſe.

   a. 1692 (date written), Robert Boyle, “Title XXI. Of the Operation of the Air on the Consistency of Animal Substances.”, in The General History of the Air, […], London: […] Awnsham and John Churchill, […], published 1692, →OCLC, page 202

   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 vvhich it chiefly feeds, it lies dovvn near it, concealing as much as poſſible the place of its retreat, and ſtretching out its long tongue among the ants, keeps it for ſome time quite immovable. Theſe little animals, allured by its appearance, and the unctuous ſubſtance vvith vvhich it is ſmeared, inſtantly gather upon it in great numbers; and vvhen the pangolin ſuppoſes a ſufficiency, it quickly vvithdravvs the tongue, and ſvvallovvs them at once.

   1791, Oliver Goldsmith, “Of Quadrupeds Covered with Scales or Shells instead of Hair”, in An History of the Earth, and Animated Nature. […], new edition, volume VI, London: […] F[rancis] Wingrave, successor to Mr. [John] Nourse, […], →OCLC, page 115

   [H]e took off the lid of the iron pot and there rushed out a savoury smell, while the bubbling sound grew deeper and more rich, and an unctuous steam came floating out, hanging in a delicious mist above their heads— […]

   1840 April – 1841 November, Charles Dickens, “Chapter the Eighteenth”, in The Old Curiosity Shop. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1841, →OCLC, page 187

   Dropping his spade, he thrust both hands in, and drew out handfuls of something that looked like ripe Windsor soap, or rich mottled old cheese; very unctuous and savory withal. You might easily dent it with your thumb; it is of a hue between yellow and ash color. And this, good friends, is ambergris, worth a gold guinea an ounce to any druggist.

   1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Pequod Meets the Rose-Bud”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 455

   Synonyms: mellowy, oleaginous, saponaceous, slaistery, slimy, smarmy, unctious, unctuose · 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: […] Thomæ Bertheleti […], →OCLC, book II, folio 18, verso

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   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; […]

   1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act II, scene ii, signature [D3], recto

   [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, […]

   1641 May, John Milton, “The Second Book”, in Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England: And the Causes that hitherto have Hindred it. […], [London]: […] Thomas Vnderhill, →OCLC; republished in Will Taliaferro Hale, editor, Of Reformation Touching Church-Discipline in England (Yale Studies in English; LIV), New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1916, →OCLC, page 70

   And Pallas rear'd him; her ovvn unctuous fane / She made his habitation, vvhere vvith bulls / The youth of Athens, and vvith ſlaughter'd lambs / Her annual vvorſhip celebrate.

   1791, Homer, “[The Iliad.] Book II.”, in W[illiam] Cowper, transl., The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer, Translated into Blank Verse, […], volume I, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 52, lines 664–667

   There was something in the sound of the last word, which roused the unctuous boy. He jumped up: and the leaden eyes, which twinkled behind his mountainous cheeks, leered horribly upon the food as he unpacked it from the basket.

   1836 March – 1837 October, Charles Dickens, “A Field-day and Bivouac—More New Friends; and an Invitation to the Country”, in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1837, →OCLC, page 40

   High and low, they [English day-laborers] are of an unctuous texture. There is an adipocere in their constitution, as if they had oil for their mental wheels, and could perform vast amounts of work without damaging themselves.

   1856, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Character”, in English Traits, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, page 141

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.

   "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 yum”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 30 May 2023

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   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, are Aſtringent, and Pungent; as in Galls, and Spirit of Sal Aromanick.

   1675 April 4 (Gregorian calendar), Nehemiah Grew, “[Several Lectures Read before the Royal Society.] A Discourse of the Diversities and Causes of Tasts Chiefly in Plants. Read before the Royal Society, March 25. 1675. Chapter I. Of the Several Sorts of Simple and Compounded Tasts; and the Degrees of Both.”, in The Anatomy of Plants. […], [London]: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, published 1682, →OCLC, page 280

   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 lower tables.

   1866 January, Bayard Taylor, “Beauty and the Beast. A Story of Old Russia.”, in Beauty and the Beast: And Tales of Home, New York, N.Y.: G[eorge] P[almer] Putnam & Sons, […], published 1872, →OCLC, section III, page 15

   Synonyms: savorous

4. Of soil: soft and sticky.

   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 Chalk”, in The Whole Art of Husbandry; or, The Way of Managing and Improving of Land. […], 2nd edition, London: […] J[ohn] H[umphreys] for H[enry] Mortlock […], and J[onathan] Robinson […], →OCLC, book IV, page 70

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   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 procreative temper, combining into a light, and eaſily crumbling Mould; […]

   1675 May 9 (date delivered; Gregorian calendar), J[ohn] Evelyn, A Philosophical Discourse of Earth, Relating to the Culture and Improvement of It for Vegetation, and the Propagation of Plants, &c. […], London: […] John Martyn, printer to the Royal Society, published 1676, →OCLC

   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 earth, and I am perſuaded, that if in this country there vvere any ſtones, they vvould ſvvallovv theſe.

   1777, William Robertson, “Notes and Illustrations. Note LIV.”, in The History of America, volume I, London: […] W[illiam] Strahan; T[homas] Cadell, […]; Edinburgh: J[ohn] Balfour, →OCLC, page 470

   What a hardy plant was [William] Shakespeare's genius, how fatal its development, since it could not be blighted in such an atmosphere! It only brought human nature the closer to him, and put more unctuous earth about his roots.

   1863, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Recollections of a Gifted Woman”, in Our Old Home: A Series of English Sketches, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor and Fields, →OCLC, page 114

5. Of a person:
   1. figurativelyComplacent, self-satisfied, smug.
   2. figurativelyProfusely polite, especially in an insincere and unpleasant manner.

      General Peckem roused himself after a moment with an unctuous and benignant smile.

      1961 November 10, Joseph Heller, “Doc Daneeka”, in Catch-22 […], New York, N.Y.: Simon and Schuster, →OCLC, page 32

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      "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 unctuous emphasis upon the words.

      1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “In which Some More First Appearances are Made on the Stage of These Adventures”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 27

      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 Towers. […], copyright edition, volume II, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1859, →OCLC, page 23

      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: John Lane, The Bodley Head; New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company, →OCLC, section I (How to Introduce Two People to One Another), page 172

      Synonyms: greasy, oily, oleaginous, slimy, smarmy, asslicky, fawning, greasy