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.
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Informal. unpleasant; unfortunate; nasty.
The villain of the story meets a sticky end.
noun
-
stickies
plural
adjective
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covered or daubed with an adhesive or viscous substance
sticky fingers
-
having the property of sticking to a surface
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(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:
They tested whether this reaction could be used to create useful sticky ends.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 19, 2026
It was recorded almost by accident at the end of a session with French-Congolese star Theodora on a hot and sticky February night in LA.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
So far, the move in yields has proven sticky, even in the face of economic data that might have been expected to push yields lower.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026
I’ve been heartened by the throngs of people gathered in multiplexes, even if it means the floors are extra sticky from spilled soda.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The next day, I sneaked the donut back to him with a sticky note that read,I believe this is yours.
From "Bye Forever, I Guess" by Jodi Meadows
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
Does that music-critic writing really make the service stickier?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 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 policymakers eyeing rate cuts to support households will be wary of elevated prices in the services sector, which typically prove stickier than industrial prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
If you have a job doing specifically that, things get stickier.
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2026
They took those sticky elements and tried to make them even stickier.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Cook, 65, turned Apple into one of the stickiest product ecosystems ever.
From Barron's ● Jun. 19, 2026
And so he would arrive on those green benches in the Commons at just the point many Labour folk anticipate the prime minister reaches his stickiest moment yet.
From BBC ● Jan. 22, 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 summers on record for New York City.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2025
Of all the sticky things that had come out of that doll’s mouth, that may have been the stickiest.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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.
