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

Also read: Stuck in ‘survival spending’? 5 ways to build wealth even when the odds seem stacked against you.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

"Did a bit less cooking in the offseason this year. Stuck to plastic silverware instead of metal stuff," he joked.

From Barron's • Feb. 4, 2026

Von Stuck built his villa in 1897-98 and enlarged it in 1914-15.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Stuck without many options, the Fire Department began slowly thinking about refining the policies that proved disastrous for Australia.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 24, 2025

To a small apartment on the outskirts of a town Stuck on the outskirts of the world.

From "Geeks: How Two Lost Boys Rode the Internet Out of Idaho" by Jon Katz