stuck

American  

[stuhk] / stʌk /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of stick.

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idioms

1. stuck on, infatuated with.

   He met her only once and is already stuck on her.

stuck British  

/ stʌk /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of stick 2

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adjective

1. informal baffled or nonplussed

2. slang (foll by on) keen (on) or infatuated (with)

3. informal

   1. to perform (a task) with determination

   2. to attack (a person) verbally or physically

Other Word Forms

• self-stuck
  adjective

Explanation

Stuck describes something that's frozen or fixed in one place and can't be moved. If your foot gets stuck in the mud, it means you can't get your foot out of its messy trap. The lid of a jar can be stuck, and your car can get stuck in traffic; either way, the thing that's stuck isn't going anywhere. You can also use stuck when you can't figure out what to do: you can be stuck on an especially hard math problem or feel stuck in a complicated relationship. The verb stick comes from the Old English stician, pierce or remain fastened.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stuck

"I've been travelling for three hours... to get to work," said Tetiana Osypenko, a 49-year-old seamstress whose bus was stuck in a traffic jam.

From Barron's ● Oct. 2, 2026

The company stuck to its forecast for falling organic sales overall for its new fiscal year.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026

The two got stuck when they reached the village of Chame, which had been evacuated due to the risk of landslides, and had to spend a night in the jungle, Graham said.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

Her mother, an angry woman and an obsessive hoarder, has recently died, and Livia is stuck with the job of cleaning out her house.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026

She’d also slung his own bow and quiver over her shoulder; and stuck his axe and knife in her belt.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver