greasylooking

Greasylooking is an informal adjective used to describe something that appears greasy—oily, slick, or coated with oil or fat. The term emphasizes visual impression rather than measurable properties and is commonly used in descriptive writing, reviews, and casual speech.

Linguistically, greasylooking is a compound formed from greasy and looking. It is typically hyphenated as greasy-looking in most style guides, though some writers render it as a single word, greasylooking, particularly in online contexts or as a stylized brand name. The construction reflects a present participle used as an adjective, a pattern common in English for vivid descriptive terms.

Common domains include fashion and photography, where greasy-looking may describe skin, hair, makeup, or lighting that creates a shiny, slick effect; in food writing, it can describe dishes with visible oil or fat. In automotive or manufacturing contexts, it may describe surfaces coated with lubricants or residue. In online discourse, it can be used neutrally to describe appearance or pejoratively to imply neglect or poor hygiene; tone depends on context and audience.

There is no formal definition in standard dictionaries for a specialized sense; greasy-looking remains a colloquial descriptor. Related terms include greasy, shiny, slick, and oily-looking. Some uses may aim for humor or hyperbole, rather than objective description.