slippery slope

noun

: a course of action that seems to lead inevitably from one action or result to another with unintended consequences

Examples of slippery slope in a Sentence

His behavior will lead him down a slippery slope to ruin.

Recent Examples on the Web

Providers tend to cry slippery slope and the end of free speech at any carve-out to their Section 230 freedom, which courts have mostly respected. —Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 29 Jan. 2025

Another school of thought is that some are concerned about the slippery slope of precedent that could be created by inducting Tyrer. —Vahe Gregorian, Kansas City Star, 7 Feb. 2025

Even using the promise of a reward as motivation can be a slippery slope. —Erica Sloan, SELF, 31 Jan. 2025

Unless Americans, our courts, and patriotic legislators are willing to stand up for the law and the Constitution, we are launched on a slippery slope that can only end in a nondemocratic state. —Trudy Rubin, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1951, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for slippery slope

• electroscope
• heliotrope
• kaleidoscope
• laryngoscope
• ophthalmoscope
• oscilloscope
• polariscope
• stereoscope
• antelope
• bronchoscope
• cantaloupe
• cystoscope