sticky en · ADJ
Pronunciation
Etymology
From stick + -y.
Meanings
-
Tending to stick; able to adhere via the drying of a viscous substance.
Is this tape sticky enough to stay on that surface?
Particularly sticky books are cleaned with methylated spirits.
2016 June 5, Thomas Manch, “CuriousCity: What happens to my library books when I return them?”, in Stuff, archived from the original on 04 May 2019:
-
Difficult, awkward.
Among the books Mum brought me to read when I was a child were The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, as well as their author Frances Hodgson Burnett's smash hit, Little Lord Fauntleroy. I haven't met an adult my age who has read this book but I did so several times. It's a sticky book, guided by that strange Victorian obsession with "the little mother" – the same obsession that Virginia Woolf, a child of Victorian parents, grappled with in her diaries and her fiction. Somehow, though, I learned to overlook the archaic, to be open to the oddnesses of different eras, and to read for something else.
2020 June 25, Tegan Bennett Daylight, “My mother taught me the joy of reading. I remember her through books”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 May 2023:GCN is not just another clipboard of polite press releases. GCN is the sticky questions, the sweet moments, and the dirty stories that make up our lives.
1989 December 24, Abe Rybeck, “Liberation Without Permission, Pleasure Without Apology”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 24, page 5:This is a sticky situation. We could be in this for weeks if we're not careful.
-
Of a death: unpleasant, grisly.
Salmond studied medieval Scottish history as well as economics at university so he cannot say he has not had fair warning – it was even more turbulent and bloody than England at that time – and plenty of Scotland's kings and leaders came to a sticky end. If it happens this time, it won't be dull.
2014 September 8, Michael White, “Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 13 Oct 2022:
-
Of weather: hot and windless and with high humidity, so that people feel sticky from sweating.
The baby was due in December and the hot, sticky August weather was making Jane uncomfortable.
2008, Robert K. Fitts, Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball:
-
Mawkish, sentimental.
Love you and miss you and wish you all the sticky things one wishes at this season for someone one loves.
1981 December 27, “Robert Bobbie Bob, Inc (personal advertisement)”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 23, page 18:
-
Tending to stay the same; resistant to change.
a sticky price; sticky wages
-
(informal, of a setting) Persistent.
We should make the printing direction sticky so the user doesn't have to keep setting it.
- (of a window) Appearing on all virtual desktops.
- (Internet, of threads on a bulletin board) Fixed at the top of the list of topics or threads so as to keep it in view.
-
(Internet, of a website) Compelling enough to keep visitors from leaving.
A woman has come to me with the complaint that her website is not sticky: 70% of the visits last 30 seconds or less.
-
(informal) Resembling or characteristic of a stick.
What's something that is brown and sticky? A stick
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| stickiest | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| stickier | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Deriveds
sticky-uppy · sticky willy · sticky shed syndrome · sticky-tape · sticky wicket · sticky-backed plastic · stickyweed · sticky-note · sticky keys · sticky dog · stickily · sticky situation · sticky rice wine · come to a sticky end · stickyback · unsticky · sticky monkey-flower · sticky-beak · sticky-icky · sticky bead argument · sticky catchfly · sticky fingers · fermented sticky rice · sticky trap · sticky toffee pudding · sticky-sweet · sticky-fingered · stickiness · sticky-outy · sticky bottle · sticky foam · stickybeak · sticky end · nonsticky · sticky note · sticky finger · sticky-back plastic · sticky bomb · meet a sticky end · sticky beak · sticky-out · sticky platelet syndrome · sticky-up · sticky-finger · sticky bun · sticky skin syndrome · sticky currant · sticky tape · sticky bit · Vietnamese fermented sticky rice · sticky rice
Relateds
Synonyms
glutinous · tenacious · muggy · close (hot, windless and humid) · claggy (able or likely to adhere) · sultry
Translations (95)
pt pegajoso (able or likely to stick) · bcl mapulot (able or likely to stick) · hu ragadós (able or likely to stick) · id lengket (able or likely to stick) · hy կպչուն (able or likely to stick) · ro lipicios (able or likely to stick) · th เหนียว (able or likely to stick) · sv klibbigt (of weather) · ca enganxós (able or likely to stick) · es pegadizo (able or likely to stick) · sv klibbig (able or likely to stick) · mn бүгчим чийгтэй (of weather) · tr yapışkan (able or likely to stick) · ru ли́пкий (able or likely to stick) · hu izzasztó (of weather) · es escabroso (potentially difficult to escape from) · ja 厄介な (potentially difficult to escape from) · fi koukuttava (of weather) · pl lepki (able or likely to stick) · hu bajos (potentially difficult to escape from) · eo glueca (able or likely to stick) · uk липкий (able or likely to stick) · grc γλίσχρος (able or likely to stick) · cho shinʋshbi (able or likely to stick) · es pegachento (able or likely to stick) · ja 難しい (potentially difficult to escape from) · ga greamaitheach (able or likely to stick) · de heikel (potentially difficult to escape from) · fr poisseux (able or likely to stick) · uk липучий (able or likely to stick) · lo ໜຽວ (able or likely to stick) · mi ngingita (able or likely to stick) · nl plakkerig (able or likely to stick) · gl pegañento (able or likely to stick) · hu fülledt (of weather) · de stickig (able or likely to stick) · sv kladdig (able or likely to stick) · vi dính (able or likely to stick) · bg леплив (able or likely to stick) · fr délicat (potentially difficult to escape from) · fr collant (able or likely to stick) · ja ベタベタする (able or likely to stick) · vo kleböfik (able or likely to stick) · unm psàkwsi (able or likely to stick) · yi קלעפּעדיק (able or likely to stick) · ja 不愉快な (potentially difficult to escape from) · ang clibbor (able or likely to stick) · mn ᠪᠦᠭᠴᠢᠮ ᠴᠢᠭᠢᠭᠲᠡᠢ (of weather) · ja 粘着性のある (able or likely to stick) · ceb pilit (able or likely to stick) · pdt bakrich (able or likely to stick) · nl lastig (potentially difficult to escape from) · is klístraður (able or likely to stick) · gl apegadizo (able or likely to stick) · no klissete (able or likely to stick) · mr चिकट (able or likely to stick) · fi tarttuva (able or likely to stick) · el κολλώδης (able or likely to stick) · gd leanailteach (able or likely to stick) · sv kletig (able or likely to stick) · it vischioso (able or likely to stick) · pt grudento (able or likely to stick) · gl pegañoso (able or likely to stick) · la viscidus (able or likely to stick) · eo malfacila (potentially difficult to escape from) · ota یاپشقان (able or likely to stick) · ja 粘り気のある (able or likely to stick) · fr collant (potentially difficult to escape from) · nl hachelijk (potentially difficult to escape from) · es bochornoso (of weather) · unm psàkwe (able or likely to stick) · hu öntapadó (able or likely to stick) · ca apegalós (able or likely to stick) · hu kényes (potentially difficult to escape from) · ru кле́йкий (able or likely to stick) · nl kleverig (able or likely to stick) · es pegajoso (that keeps visitors from leaving it) · hu kínos (potentially difficult to escape from) · kix yàpyàpkò (able or likely to stick) · hu ragacsos (able or likely to stick) · hu tapadós (able or likely to stick) · fi tahmea (able or likely to stick) · eo embarasa (potentially difficult to escape from) · lv lipīgs (able or likely to stick) · yi קלעפּיק (able or likely to stick) · es pegajoso (able or likely to stick) · mi kūpiapia (able or likely to stick) · de klebrig (able or likely to stick) · fr gluant (able or likely to stick) · eo adhera (able or likely to stick) · et kleepuv (able or likely to stick) · cmn 黏 (able or likely to stick) · izh tarttuva (able or likely to stick) · ast pegañosu (able or likely to stick) · eo ĝena (potentially difficult to escape from)