Covered with or containing grease or oil; slippery or unpleasantly oily to the touch.
From Old French graisse 'fat, grease,' from Latin crassus 'thick, fat.' The English adjective form developed in the 14th century, extending from literal oiliness to metaphorical meanings of suspicious or untrustworthy behavior.
The evolution from 'greasy' describing food to describing people reveals our deep associations between physical and moral cleanliness. A 'greasy' person suggests someone slippery and hard to pin down - linguistically connecting oil's physical properties to character traits.
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