tricksy

[ trik-see ]

/ ˈtrɪk si /

Save This Word!

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.

QUIZ

FIRE UP YOUR VOCAB FOR A "RED" SYNONYMS QUIZ

No fire engine reds here, only a fierce collection of vibrant words for the color red to test yourself on.

Question 1 of 7

What does "amaranth" mean?

a legendary stone of impenetrable hardness

an imaginary, undying flower

a mythical creature

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of tricksy

1545–55; trick + -s³ + -y¹; cf. -sy

OTHER WORDS FROM tricksy

trick·si·ly, adverbtrick·si·ness, noun

Words nearby tricksy

trick or treat, trick out, tricks of the trade, tricksome, trickster, tricksy, trick-track, tricky, triclad, triclinic, triclinium

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use tricksy in a sentence

Her horns bedecked with ribbons gay, And garlanded with rosy may,—A tricksy sight.
The Book of Humorous Verse|Various
The river is about five miles from shore to shore, and we have known it of old for a most enticing and tricksy customer.
Palmetto-Leaves|Harriet Beecher Stowe
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
Wasn't I born on a Easter Sunday, wid the power to see the good people, an' the little people, an' all the tricksy tribes?
The Harbor Master|Theodore Goodridge Roberts

Sometimes a tricksy, half-provoked desire to break through the barricade of his stoicism tempted her.
Big Timber|Bertrand W. Sinclair

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 forms of tricksy

tricksiness, 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