silken

[ sil-kuhn ]

adjective

1. made of silk.
2. like silk in smoothness, softness, glossiness, or delicateness.
3. clad in silk.
4. smoothly persuasive or ingratiating; mellifluous:

   the senator's silken oratory.

5. elegant; luxurious.

silken

/ ˈsɪlkən /

adjective

1. made of silk
2. resembling silk in smoothness or gloss
3. dressed in silk
4. soft and delicate
5. rare.
   luxurious or elegant

Word History and Origins

Origin of silken¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English seolcen. See silk, -en ²

Example Sentences

He’s regal, an action star with class, and he’s the one silken thread in this tattered monstrosity.

From Time

In the most complex, hundreds or even thousands of females spin a great airy silken city, where some stay their entire lives.

From Science News

In a nutso glamour montage, she swirls around the house and its environs in a series of silken gowns and chic daytime ensembles, the camera fluttering around her like a wounded swan.

From Time

Is that scratchy rug atop her head really meant to be Kate's famously silken locks?

From The Daily Beast

One is the “silken cord” solution favored by Ottoman sultans.

From The Daily Beast

Strange to say, the silken cord yielded to the first pull, as if nothing had been wrong with it at all!

From Project Gutenberg

Between the green and gold folds of his silken handkerchief his gentle brown eyes always regarded her.

From Project Gutenberg

"You spoke of disgrace," she observed gently, swaying her fan before her by its silken cord.

From Project Gutenberg

Frivolity enveloped the company as with a silken veil, and yet everything moved as politely and as sedately as a minuet.

From Project Gutenberg

The little shoe, whose silken laces had become loose in walking, lay in the road covered-with dust.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• lustrous
• satin
• satiny
• silky