as slippery as an eel
Hard to catch
A simile describing someone difficult to catch, hold, or pin down.
The phrase usually refers to evasiveness—a person who dodges questions, escapes accountability, or wriggles out of commitments: The witness was as slippery as an eel under cross-examination.
Less often, it describes something physically hard to grasp.
Hard to find
- dodgyQuestionable in character
- shiftySeeming dishonest or evasive
- cageyReluctant to share information
- wilySkilled at deception
evasive · noncommittal · vague · indirect · equivocal · oblique · circumlocutory · ambiguous
Sly, scheming cleverness
- slyCleverly deceptive
- guilefulInclined toward deception
- duplicitousDeliberately deceptive in nature
- deceitfulInclined to mislead others
untrustworthy · treacherous · dishonest · disingenuous · misleading · beguiling · false · two-faced
elusive
Hard to find
wily · evasive · noncommittal · vague · indirect · equivocal · oblique · circumlocutory · ambiguous · unpredictable
cunning
Sly, scheming cleverness
- slyCleverly deceptive
- guilefulInclined toward deception
- duplicitousDeliberately deceptive in nature
deceitful · untrustworthy · treacherous · dishonest · disingenuous · misleading · beguiling · false · two-faced · scheming
lubricated
Made slippery for motion
slithery · smooth · wet · sleek · glossy · silken · soapy · buttery · glazed · waxed
as slippery as an eelstraight as an arrow
Perfectly linear, no curves
trustworthy · reliable · dependable · true blue · honest
as slippery as an eelforthright
Directly honest in manner
direct · straightforward · forthcoming · plain-spoken · candid
as slippery as an eelnailed down
Fixed or confirmed definitively
accountable · committed · steadfast · rooted · immovable
slippery, slipped, slipping, slips, slippage, slipper, slippers