stuck

American  

[stuhk] / stʌk /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of stick.

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idioms

1. stuck on, infatuated with.

   He met her only once and is already stuck on her.

stuck British  

/ stʌk /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of stick 2

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adjective

1. informal baffled or nonplussed

2. slang (foll by on) keen (on) or infatuated (with)

3. informal

   1. to perform (a task) with determination

   2. to attack (a person) verbally or physically

Other Word Forms

• self-stuck
  adjective

Explanation

Stuck describes something that's frozen or fixed in one place and can't be moved. If your foot gets stuck in the mud, it means you can't get your foot out of its messy trap. The lid of a jar can be stuck, and your car can get stuck in traffic; either way, the thing that's stuck isn't going anywhere. You can also use stuck when you can't figure out what to do: you can be stuck on an especially hard math problem or feel stuck in a complicated relationship. The verb stick comes from the Old English stician, pierce or remain fastened.

Example Sentences

The decisive moment came with 20 minutes left when Diego Gomez had stuck out his leg to bring down Desire Doue.

From BBC • Jul. 5, 2026

Asadullah said he currently has more than 30 containers stuck in Japan and the UAE, largely because of hold-ups at Dubai's Jebel Ali port which serves as a key logistical hub.

From Barron's • Jul. 5, 2026

In the southern Athens seaside suburb of Glyfada, a pensioner struggles to cross an avenue with her shopping trolley, zigzagging between cars stuck in traffic.

From Barron's • Jul. 3, 2026

Together these raise the prospect that even if overall inflation eases in the months ahead, robust growth will keep underlying price pressures stuck above the Fed’s 2% target.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 1, 2026

We stuck it out till daylight, me and Lloyd.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck