as slippery as an eel. (15th century)
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Very slippery or elusive
Literally: an eel is slippery to hold
Examples
The politician's excuses were as slippery as an eel, making it hard to pin him down.
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “as slippery as an eel. (15th century)” mean?
Very slippery or elusive Literally: an eel is slippery to hold
Is “as slippery as an eel. (15th century)” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.