Sample sentences for UNCTUOUS - verbalworkout.com

(click/touch triangles for details)

Definition

unpleasantly and insincerely charming or ingratiating in manner or speech

And a most unctuous and oily of bishops!
Upton Sinclair -- The Jungle

Martin Poyser's large person shook with his silent unctuous laugh.
George Eliot -- Adam Bede
Our d'gods, Holger," he said unctuously.
Thomas Mann -- The Magic Mountain
When I try to put it into words, it comes out one of those unctuous, over-pious platitudes at which Bishops are expected to excel.
Margaret Craven -- I Heard the Owl Call My Name
His voice, so uncommonly unctuous and placating, sounded strange to David's ears despite his misery.
Henry Roth -- Call It Sleep
He made no effort to be civil, or his normal unctuous, ingratiating self.
Pat Conroy -- The Water is Wide
The man proved to be Tyroshi; short and stout and sweaty, with an unctuous smile that reminded her of Varys and a forked beard dyed green and pink.
George R.R. Martin -- A Feast For Crows
Baby Kochamma recognized at once the immense potential of the situation, but immediately anointed her thoughts with unctuous oils.
Arundhati Roy -- The God of Small Things
A sweet and unctuous duty!
Herman Melville -- Moby Dick
Who else, most outspoken prince?" he replied, with an unctuous smile.
Fyodor Dostoyevsky -- The Idiot
It 'minds me of Zack Shalliday, and the way he got wedded," came the unctuous chuckle.
Grace MacGowan Cooke -- The Power and the Glory
In the parlors he was unctuously received by the pastor and a committee of three, wearing morning clothes and a manner of Christian intellectuality.
Sinclair Lewis -- Arrowsmith
His voice was as soft and sympathetic as a mortician's but with no unctuousness.
Dean Koontz -- Sole Survivor

(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)

Varys gave the king an unctuous smile and laid a soft hand on Ned's sleeve.
George R.R. Martin -- A Game of Thrones
If we were talking about some thorny issue like welfare reform or affirmative action he would say like a reporter both unctuous and angling, "Mr.
Chang-rae Lee -- Native Speaker
He had dropped his unctuous tone and his smile now.
J.K. Rowling -- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
They admire his unctuousness.
Sinclair Lewis -- Main Street

(Editor's note: The suffix "-ness" converts an adjective to a noun that means the quality of. This is the same pattern you see in words like darkness, kindness, and coolness.)

'An old woman,' said Maggy, with an unctuous smack of her lips.
Charles Dickens -- Little Dorrit
That's the huge Chinese who's always polite — unctuous, actually, but rather sincere.
Robert Ludlum -- The Bourne Supremacy
"But not for long, I think," said Varys unctuously.
George R.R. Martin -- A Storm of Swords

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google^®Dictionary list — Onelook.com^®

Search for other examples by interest

Interest — Source

unctuous