unctuous

English

From Medieval Latin unctuōsus (“oily”), from Latin unguere, ungere (“to anoint”).

unctuous (comparative more unctuous, superlative most unctuous)

(of a liquid or fatty substance) Oily or greasy.
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, ch. 96:
  In a word, after being tried out, the crisp, shrivelled blubber, now called scraps or fritters, still contains considerable of its unctuous properties.
(of a wine, coffee, etc.) Rich, lush, intense, with layers of concentrated, soft, velvety flavor.
- 1872, Bayard Taylor, Beauty and The Beast; and Tales of Home, ch. 3:
  The halls and passages of the castle were already permeated with rich and unctuous smells, and a delicate nose might have picked out and arranged, by their finer or coarser vapors, the dishes preparing for the upper and lower tables.
(by extension, of a person) Profusely polite, especially unpleasantly so and insincerely earnest.
- 1857, Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, Volume the Second, page 14 (ISBN 1857150570)
  Then he thoroughly disliked the tone of Mr. Slope's letter; it was unctuous, false, and unwholesome, like the man.
- 1919, Stephen Leacock, The Hohenzollerns in America, ch. 8:
  In superior circles, however, introduction becomes more elaborate, more flattering, more unctuous.