adjective
-
sticky
-
excessively sentimental or emotional
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of icky
An Americanism dating back to 1930–35; of uncertain origin
Explanation
Something that's icky is disgusting and gummy or sticky. When you walk around a busy city all day, you're bound to end up with something icky stuck to the bottom of your shoe. After frolicking through the mud, your dog will be dirty and icky, and a particularly humid summer day can feel icky too. You can also use icky to simply mean "yucky" or "nasty," as when your school cafeteria offers several icky dishes for lunch, like mystery meat and mystery mash. The informal icky is an American invention, from the 1920's slang icky-boo, baby talk for "sick" or "nauseated."
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.
But it also feels a little icky to me.
From MarketWatch • May 28, 2026
"The premise of the show is people finding love, but that isn't what viewers want, that's boring to watch and gets icky," says Spiers.
From BBC • May 27, 2026
“It feels so icky to do this, but it’s what you have to do to sound human.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026
But over-the-top comments such as "Japanese people are next level" give her an "icky vibe", Kubota told AFP.
From Barron's • Mar. 24, 2026
“Not in the icky insect-that-bores-through-paper way,” added Akimi.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
