tacky

¹

[tak-ee]

adjective

tackier, tackiest 

1. sticky to the touch; adhesive.

tacky

²

[tak-ee]

adjective

tackier, tackiest 

1. not tasteful or fashionable; dowdy.

2. shabby in appearance; shoddy.

   a tacky, jerry-built housing development.

3. crass; cheaply vulgar; tasteless; crude.

4. gaudy; flashy; showy.

tacky

¹

/ ˈtækɪ /

adjective

1. shabby or shoddy

2. ostentatious and vulgar

3. (of a person) dowdy; seedy

tacky

²

/ ˈtækɪ /

adjective

1. slightly sticky or adhesive

   the varnish was still tacky

Other Word Forms

• tackiness noun
• tackily adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of tacky¹

First recorded in 1780–90; tack ¹ + -y ¹

Origin of tacky²

1880–85, apparently identical with earlier tack(e)y small horse, pony, poor farmer; of obscure origin

Word History and Origins

Origin of tacky¹

C19: from dialect tacky an inferior horse, of unknown origin

Origin of tacky²

C18: from _tack ¹ (in the sense: stickiness)

Example Sentences

“When a trashy tacky reality tv criminal bulldozes the White House Rose Garden to make a patio-styled food court for himself,” one X user wrote.

From Salon

Biden had the same opportunity when his administration mailed another round of checks a year later, but he decided that signing them was tacky and beneath the office of the president.

From Salon

Unfortunately, the person used scissors to cut the birds’ wings out of the tacky material intended to trap rodents and pests.

From Los Angeles Times

The script works in as many callbacks as possible: spooky mannequins under plastic sheeting, tacky parade floats with giant fiberglass clams, Hewitt hollering her memorable line: “What are you waiting for?”

From Los Angeles Times

But when Sunday’s curtain rose to archaic scenery, costumes, choreography and acting, it felt, in this context, like wandering into a tacky antique shop.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• dingy 
• faded 
• gaudy 
• messy 
• run down 
• seedy 
• shabby 
• sleazy 
• threadbare 
• vulgar