sticky

STIK-ee/ˈstɪki/

Adjectivestickier, stickiest

Noun pluralstickies

Verbstickies, stickying, stickied

18 meanings of sticky

Practice

1
adjective
Able to stick to other things, like glue or syrup.
Like glue that holds two pieces of paper together.
The honey left my fingers sticky all afternoon.
Tape feels sticky on one side so it can hold paper down.
Similartacky, gooey, gummy, adhesive, gluey
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2
adjective
Hot, damp, and still, so the air makes you feel sweaty and uncomfortable.
Like the air inside a warm bathroom right after a hot shower.
It was so sticky outside that my shirt clung to my back.
Summer nights here get hot and sticky.
Similarhumid, muggy, sultry, clammy, close
Oppositedry, crisp, fresh
3
adjective
Hard to deal with because the situation is tricky or awkward.
Like being stuck in mud you can't easily climb out of.
We were in a sticky spot when the car broke down at night.
Telling your friend the truth can be a sticky situation.
Similarawkward, tricky, difficult, delicate, thorny
Oppositeeasy, simple, straightforward
4
adjective
Too soft and full of feelings in a way that seems silly.
Like a card so sweet it almost feels fake.
The movie ending was too sticky for me to enjoy.
He wrote a sticky card full of overly sweet words.
Similarsentimental, mawkish, saccharine, schmaltzy, cloying
Oppositeunsentimental
5
adjective
Slow to change, staying at the same level even when things around it change.
Like a price tag that nobody ever bothers to change.
Prices can be sticky, staying high even when costs drop.
Wages are often sticky and do not fall quickly.
Similarrigid, stubborn, inflexible, sluggish
Oppositeflexible, responsive, volatile
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6
adjective
Interesting enough to make people stay instead of leaving.
Like a TV show so good you can't stop watching it.
The game was so sticky that players kept coming back for hours.
A sticky website keeps visitors clicking around longer.
Similarengaging, compelling, addictive
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7
adjective
Kept fixed at the top of a list so it stays easy to see.
Like a note pinned to the top of a board so everyone sees it.
The rules post is sticky, so it always shows at the top.
Moderators made the welcome thread sticky for new members.
Similarpinned
Note
8
nouncountable or uncountable
A small piece of paper that sticks to things, used for short notes.
Like a tiny note with a strip of glue on the back.
She wrote the address on a sticky and pressed it to the door.
I left a sticky on his desk to remind him about lunch.
Note
9
nouncountable or uncountable
A forum post that stays fixed at the top of the list.
Like a notice pinned to the top of a message board.
The moderators turned the rules post into a sticky.
Check the sticky at the top before asking your question.
Note
10
verbtransitive
To pin a forum post at the top of a list so people keep seeing it.
Like pinning a note to the top of a board so it never gets buried.
The moderator decided to sticky the announcement so everyone would see it.
She stickied the rules thread so new members could find it.
Similarpin
Oppositeunpin
Note

11
adjectivecolloquial
Staying around and hard to get rid of.
Like chewing gum stuck to your shoe that you just can't get off.
The sticky bug kept crashing the app no matter what they tried.
Inflation proved sticky and stayed high for years.
Similarpersistent, stubborn, lasting, enduring
Oppositetemporary, transient
Note
12
adjective
Showing up on every virtual desktop instead of just one.
Like a sticker on the glass you can see from every seat in the room.
She made the chat window sticky so it followed her across desktops.
A sticky icon stays in view on all your workspaces.
Note
13
adjectivecolloquial
Looking like a stick, or having the qualities of one.
The new puppy had sticky little legs, thin and straight like twigs.
Her drawing showed a sticky little figure with no real body.
Similarspindly, skinny, scrawny, lanky
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14
adjective
Used about a death or end that is very nasty and often violent.
The smuggler came to a sticky end when his boat capsized in the storm.
Everyone feared the old miser would meet a sticky death, alone and forgotten.
Similarnasty, grisly, gruesome, unpleasant, grim
15
nounslangcountable or uncountable
Strong marijuana, especially buds covered in sticky resin.
They passed around some sticky on the back porch all evening.
He swore the sticky he bought was the best he'd ever smoked.
Similarbud, weed, dank, pot, ganja
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16
nouncolloquialAustraliacountable or uncountable
A sweet wine that people drink with dessert.
After dinner he poured everyone a small glass of sticky.
She likes a chilled sticky with her fruit cake.
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17
nouncountable or uncountable
A small bit of glue or adhesive left in recycled paper.
Like a bit of chewing gum mixed into clean paper pulp.
A single sticky can ruin a whole batch of recycled paper.
The screen caught each sticky before it reached the rollers.
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18
nounobsoleteuncountable
An old slang word for wax, the soft material that candles are made of.
He sealed the letter with a blob of sticky and pressed his ring into it.
She rubbed a little sticky onto the thread to stiffen it.
Note

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of sticky apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

It comes from the word "stick" plus the ending "-y".