Slithery describes something that moves in a smooth, sliding, twisting motion, like a snake gliding across the ground. When you picture something slithery, you might imagine how a snake's body creates S-shaped curves as it pushes itself forward, or how an eel winds through water.

The word often describes the feel of something as much as how it moves. A slithery surface is slippery and smooth, making it hard to grip. If you've ever tried to hold a wet bar of soap as it kept escaping your hands, you've felt something slithery. Earthworms, salamanders, and fish all move or feel slithery in different ways.

People use slithery to describe actual movement (the snake slithered across the path) or to create a vivid image (the villain in the story moved with a slithery creep that made everyone uncomfortable). The word carries a slightly unsettling feeling, perhaps because snakes and eels can seem mysterious or unpredictable. When something moves in a slithery way, it flows and curves rather than walking or hopping in the straightforward manner most animals do.