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.
-
Informal. unpleasant; unfortunate; nasty.
The villain of the story meets a sticky end.
noun
-
stickies
plural
adjective
-
covered or daubed with an adhesive or viscous substance
sticky fingers
-
having the property of sticking to a surface
-
(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:
Amyloid-beta can collect into sticky deposits between nerve cells, while abnormal tau proteins can form tangles inside them.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
“Loving you is just like sipping on straight syrup, sugar, sticky soda,” she sings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026
In her emergency rucksack - kept in her wardrobe - Ayumi keeps clothes, towels, menstrual products, disposable chopsticks, sticky notes, disposable masks and a disposable toilet, like those used by hikers and campers.
From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026
Higher global energy costs fed into higher electricity prices, and airfare prices and services inflation remained sticky, DBS economists said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
Trying not to think of the sticky white curtains that swathed the trees, the huge, crawling spiders and their million eyes so close.
From "Rowan of Rin" by Emily Rodda
This is also a good time to break out those port-style stickies you picked up on your visits to local wineries.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 9, 2023
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
From airfares to computer game download prices, there are the first signs of stickier forms of price pressure and of higher inflation becoming more embedded, suggesting elevated price rises are not temporary.
From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2026
Does that music-critic writing really make the service stickier?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
If countries don’t remedy the issues, the administration can impose tariffs, which analysts see as stickier than levies using other trade authorities.
From Barron's ● Apr. 16, 2026
Mohan expressed similar sentiments, arguing that the Neo could lead to a stickier overall installed base for Apple and “increased services use over time.”
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 6, 2026
It’s like seeing a collage of the last few days, but stickier.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
“To think that Google would somehow displace the most complete end-to-end solution in the marketplace with the strongest and stickiest agent product suite seems rather far-fetched,” he wrote.
From Barron's ● Jan. 1, 2026
This summer has been one of the stickiest summers on record for New York City.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2025
Migration is the stickiest problem the two countries face, however.
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2025
The stickiest protest songs have hooks and refrains that concisely summarize the stakes.
From Salon ● May 8, 2024
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
