슬슬

Korean

Etymology

Of native Korean origin.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [sʰɯɭsʰɯɭ]
• Phonetic hangul: [슬슬]

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	seulseul
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	seulseul
McCune–Reischauer?	sŭlsŭl
Yale Romanization?	sul.sul

Ideophone

Ablaut/harmonic pair

Yin-form	슬슬 (seulseul)
Yang-form	살살 (salsal)

슬슬 • (seulseul)

1. (often disparaging) subtly; discreetly

   도둑은 잡히지 않으려고 슬슬 눈길을 피했다.

   Dodug-eun japhiji aneuryeogo seulseul nun'gir-eul pihaetda.

   The thief discreetly averted his gaze to not be caught.

2. (of snow, etc) while slowly melting
3. while touching or rubbing somewhat softly
4. (of wind) while blowing in a somewhat light breeze
5. easily; leisurely
6. Not in earnest but gradually. Indicates the action in the verb has begun but is not yet in earnest and is in its infancy.

   꾸준히 먹었더니 슬슬 효과가 나오는 거 같아요.

   Kkujunhi meogeotdeoni seulseul hyogwaga naoneun geo gatayo.

   I've been taking it regularly and it started to work.

7. Denotes that it is visibly approaching the point where the action of the verb occurs. Frequently accepted for indicating somewhat further gap than 거의 (geoui, “almost”) or 곧 (got, “soon”)

   이제 슬슬 다 온 것 같습니다.

   Ije seulseul da on geot gatseumnida.

   I think we are almost there.

Related terms

Sound-symbolic terms derived from 살/슬 (sal/seul-, "lightly, subtly")
Yang-vowel form	Yin-vowel form
살살 (salsal)	슬슬 (seulseul)
살근살근 (salgeunsalgeun)	슬근슬근 (seulgeunseulgeun)
살금살금 (salgeumsalgeum)	슬금슬금 (seulgeumseulgeum)
살며시 (salmyeosi) 살몃살몃 (salmyeotsalmyeot)	슬며시 (seulmyeosi) 슬몃슬몃 (seulmyeotseulmyeot)
살포시 (salposi)	살푸시 (salpusi)
살짝 (saljjak) 살짝살짝 (saljjaksaljjak)	슬쩍 (seuljjeok) 슬쩍슬쩍 (seuljjeokseuljjeok)
사르르 (sareureu)	스르르 (seureureu)