tricksy

[ trik-see ]

/ ˈtrɪk si /

adjective, trick·si·er, trick·si·est.

Also tricksome. given to tricks; mischievous; playful; prankish.

difficult to handle or deal with.

Archaic. tricky; crafty; wily.

Archaic. fashionably trim; spruce; smart.

Nearby words

Origin of tricksy

1545–55; trick + -s³ + -y¹; cf. -sy

Related formstrick·si·ly, adverbtrick·si·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for tricksy

Yes, it was your tricksy self, Wicked-trickèd little elf, Naughty Caroline!
The Bon Gaultier Ballads|William Edmonstoune Aytoun
In all of them, except the Negromante, we have a sub-plot which brings a tricksy valet into play.
Renaissance in Italy: Italian Literature|John Addington Symonds
Harald looked a trifle flurried, it is probable; but held in his wrath, and did no damage to the tricksy Englishman.
Early Kings of Norway|Thomas Carlyle
Printsy is a word of the same formation with tricksy; and the phrase, "The printsy Angelo!"
Notes and Queries, Vol. III, Number 86, June 21, 1851|Various

Madame von Marwitz now looked at her and as she looked the tricksy light of malice again grew in her eye.
Tante|Anne Douglas Sedgwick

British Dictionary definitions for tricksy

tricksy

/ (ˈtrɪksɪ) /

adjective -sier or -siest

playing tricks habitually; mischievous

crafty or difficult to deal with

archaic well-dressed; spruce; smart

Derived Formstricksiness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012