sticky
Americanadjective
-
stickier,
comparative
-
stickiest
superlative
-
having the property of adhering, as glue; adhesive.
-
covered with adhesive or viscid matter.
sticky hands.
-
(of the weather or climate) hot and humid.
It was an unbearably sticky day.
-
requiring careful treatment; awkwardly difficult.
a rather sticky diplomatic problem; Breaking the news is going to be sticky.
-
Informal. unpleasant; unfortunate; nasty.
The villain of the story meets a sticky end.
noun
-
stickies
plural
adjective
-
covered or daubed with an adhesive or viscous substance
sticky fingers
-
having the property of sticking to a surface
-
(of weather or atmosphere) warm and humid; muggy
-
(of prices) tending not to fall in deflationary conditions
-
informal difficult, awkward, or painful
a sticky business
-
informal sentimental
-
(of a website) encouraging users to visit repeatedly
verb
noun
-
short for stickybeak
-
an inquisitive look or stare (esp in the phrase have a sticky at )
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of sticky
1720–30; 1910–15 sticky for def. 4; stick 2 + -y 1
Explanation
Things that easily adhere to other things are sticky. Glue and tape are sticky. So is a wad of chewed gum — especially when you step in it. Yuck. Many things are meant to be sticky, like the sticky notes you use for bookmarks or the sticky lint roller you use to remove cat hair from your pants. You can also describe hot, humid weather as sticky, or an awkward problem you can't easily shake: "They brought up a number of sticky issues in the meeting this morning." If someone has "sticky fingers," it means they're inclined to steal things.
Vocabulary lists containing sticky
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.
See Examples For:
“Loving you is just like sipping on straight syrup, sugar, sticky soda,” she sings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
The gluten-free mixture was too sticky to pass through the rollers that flatten the dough into sheets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2026
In her emergency rucksack - kept in her wardrobe - Ayumi keeps clothes, towels, menstrual products, disposable chopsticks, sticky notes, disposable masks and a disposable toilet, like those used by hikers and campers.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
American Express earnings show its affluent cardholder base isn’t changing its spending habits even in the face of higher interest rates and sticky inflation.
From Barron's ● Oct. 23, 2026
Penelope thought of the two loaves of rye bread and half dozen sticky buns.
From "The Hidden Gallery" by Maryrose Wood
Even less rarefied stickies can put a satisfying coda on any occasion.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 1, 2021
Transfers like this should be simple, but this fat document with little stickies pointing to places that required details and signatures was proof it wasn’t.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 17, 2021
The track-prepared M40i’s were equipped with the optional electromechanically locking rear differential and shod with 20-inch summer stickies, so they were getting around pretty well.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2018
But what was there, in those dozens of stickies, was so captivating that Mr. Patel knew he had to have the role.
From New York Times ● Nov. 18, 2016
As you can imagine, over the years I’ve had my share of notebooks, stickies, legal pads and the like.
From Forbes ● Jun. 27, 2013
From airfares to computer game download prices, there are the first signs of stickier forms of price pressure and of higher inflation becoming more embedded, suggesting elevated price rises are not temporary.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
Underlying inflation has proven stickier than he expected this year and a labor market he thought would weaken has instead held firm.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Barclays analysts lifted their 2026 Brent forecast to $100 a barrel, saying that, the longer the conflict lasts, “the bigger and stickier the price shock,” in a note to clients on Friday.
From MarketWatch ● May 4, 2026
But the musical’s tangled narrative web has been a stickier challenge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2026
Wesley’s Methodism spread like wildfire through England and America because Wesley was shuttling back and forth among hundreds and hundreds of groups, and each group was then taking his message and making it even stickier.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
“To think that Google would somehow displace the most complete end-to-end solution in the marketplace with the strongest and stickiest agent product suite seems rather far-fetched,” Benchmark’s Kurnos wrote.
From Barron's ● Jan. 2, 2026
According to economist Matthew Nestler, the care economy has become one of the stickiest sources of inflation in the United States.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2025
This summer has been one of the stickiest ever across the East Coast, according to a new metric, and with scorching temperatures this week, it isn’t done yet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2025
The stickiest issue for the government is that these smaller class sizes and higher spending hasn't necessarily led to notably better outcomes.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2025
“But I suppose even the stickiest pudding is better than a tar pit. Good night.”
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
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