noun
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(usually foll by for) a person who makes insistent demands
a stickler for accuracy
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a problem or puzzle
the investigation proved to be a stickler
Etymology
Origin of stickler
Explanation
A stickler is someone who insists that things are done in a certain way. Say you’re getting married and want to write your own vows, but your partner’s mother demands that you have a traditional ceremony. The mother is a stickler for tradition. Stickler has its origins in a word meaning umpire, which may allude to a stickler’s bossy nature. Difficult problems or puzzles are called sticklers. It is helpful when remembering the definition of stickler that it has the word “stick” in it. So someone who “sticks” to the rules is a stickler.
Vocabulary lists containing stickler
One of Us Is Lying
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Eats, Shoots & Leaves
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Merci Suárez Changes Gears
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Carla Stickler, a former “Wicked” understudy who has since become a software engineer in Chicago, was flown to New York to play Elphaba for the first time in seven years.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 12, 2022
Harri Stickler, of Aberdare, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was diagnosed with leukaemia when he was six months old.
From BBC • May 18, 2022
Then there’s Carla Stickler, who had actually left show business but returned to rescue “Wicked.”
From Seattle Times • Jan. 6, 2022
On the first day of classes Monday, Fairfax County Public Schools science teacher Shawn Stickler barely made it three names into his attendance list before he stopped and gave a double-take.
From Washington Post • Aug. 23, 2021
The important thing is to unleash your Inner Stickler, while at the same time not getting punched on the nose, or arrested for damage to private property.
From "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" by Author
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
