sticking point

American  

noun

1. a point, detail, or circumstance causing or likely to cause a stalemate or impasse.

   The bill would have gone through the Senate quickly but for one sticking point.

2. sticking place.

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sticking point British  

noun

1. a problem or point on which agreement cannot be reached, preventing progress from being made

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Etymology

Origin of sticking point

First recorded in 1820–30

Example Sentences

The main sticking point is whether the project will go after global markets, as its partners say, or only Europe, as its critics counter.

From The Wall Street Journal

The technology was one of the key sticking points in the writers' and actors' strikes that paralyzed Hollywood in 2023.

From Barron's

The day will need him at his gobsmacking best; poking and prodding, controlling and surprising, putting men into gaps and sticking points on the board.

From BBC

Another sticking point in the talks is the status of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

From BBC

The sticking point for any GB success on snow has always been the lack of snowy mountains and freestyle courses, but that is not as convincing an argument as it once was.

From BBC

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