sticker

American  

[stik-er] / ˈstɪk ər /

noun

• stickers
  plural

1. a person or thing that sticks.

2. an adhesive label.

3. Informal. sticker price.

4. something, as a problem or riddle, that puzzles or nonpluses one.

5. Slang. a knife, especially one used as a weapon by a criminal.

6. a worker who kills animals in a slaughterhouse by piercing the jugular vein with a pointed instrument.

7. a bur, thorn, or the like.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the sticker price of an automobile.

   Customers are experiencing sticker shock at the high price of new cars.

verb (used with object)

1. to place a sticker on.

sticker British  

/ ˈstɪkə /

noun

1. an adhesive label, poster, or paper

2. a person or thing that sticks

3. a persevering or industrious person

4. something prickly, such as a thorn, that clings to one's clothing, etc

5. informal something that perplexes

6. informal a knife used for stabbing or piercing

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• stickers
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of sticker

First recorded in 1575–85; stick ² + -er ¹

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Explanation

A sticker is a label or a decoration with a sticky back, so it can be pasted anywhere. If you're a big fan of superheroes, you might cover your notebooks with Wonder Woman stickers. Sticker usually refers to the kitten stickers your brother sticks on his bedroom windows or the adhesive labels that you peel off your banana. Some plants also have stickers (also known as burrs, prickles, or thorns) — the kind that get stuck in your sweater after a walk in the woods. The term sticker price means the listed price for a car or some other item offered for sale.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sticker stickers

Electric bill sticker shock is common for customers of investor-owned utilities, but less so for municipally owned utilities such as DWP.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Besides, nobody ever said, nor ever put on a campaign sticker, “The establishment? It’s cool!”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

And even though this was their first home purchase in 45 years, Kaiser said they avoided sticker shock because they came with their “eyes wide open” and knew what they could buy.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

So while sticker prices are rising less quickly than they once did, they still register to many Americans as unacceptably high.

From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026

He was assured that she’d be given a special sticker to put on her car.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin

The postboxes for each household bear stickers put there after the attacks three years ago: red indicates those killed, and black those taken hostage.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Earlier this week, Anthropic hosted a limited giveaway of “Clawd” plushies and stickers — a reference to the pixelated crab logo featured in the Claude Code terminal tool.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026

A Swedish designer, Mateusz Pozar, launched a "Ban Ray" site earlier this year, providing signs to ban smart glasses from venues and selling stickers.

From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026

For much of the past 25 years, each anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks has arrived with signs and stickers reminding people to “never forget.”

From Salon ● Sep. 8, 2026

I see myself sitting cross-legged like I am now, but I'm showing Khalil how to do the price stickers.

From "The Hate U Give" by Angie Thomas

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Related Words

• amount
• bill
• cost
• demand
• discount
• estimate
• expenditure
• expense
• fare
• fee
• figure
• output
• pay
• payment
• premium
• rate
• return
• tariff
• valuation
• worth

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