EN

Synonyms for sticky

  • adjective

Most common

adhesive viscous glutinous gluey awkward unenviable wet ropey

Synonyms by meaning

Adjective

1. Gluey

gluey, glutinous, adhesive, viscous, gummy, viscid, slimy, tenacious, tacky, clammy, pasty, mucilaginous, smeary, slabby, gelatinous, stringy

2. Difficult — difficult, awkward

hard, difficult, rough, awkward, embarrassing, unenviable

3. Wet

wet, muggy, moist, steamy, sultry

Other

tough, ropey, close, claggy

Antonyms

slippery, simple, unsticky

All antonyms of sticky →

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

    Difficult, awkward.

    This is a sticky situation. We could be in this for weeks if we're not careful.

  2. adj. 2

    Tending to stick; able to adhere via the drying of a viscous substance.

    Is this tape sticky enough to stay on that surface?

  3. adj. 3

    Of a death: unpleasant, grisly.

Related words

Word family
stickily stickiness sticky-sweet stickyweed
Phrases
sticky wicket sticky willy sticky bun sticky tape fermented sticky rice sticky catchfly sticky dog sticky note
Other spellings
stickie

Choose the right word

Sticky, Adhesive or Sticking?

Adhesive is the scientific, sticking or sticky the popular word. Sticky expresses a more limited, and generally annoying, degree of the same quality.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

  • adhesive Scotch brand is a type of adhesive tape.
  • viscous Condensed milk is more viscous than normal milk.
  • glutinous Glutinous rice is more common in Asian dishes.
  • awkward At first the trainees were awkward in his company.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
stickyrising
adhesivefalling
viscousfalling
glutinoussteady
glueyrising
awkwardrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

3 letters
wet1
4 letters
hard1
5 letters
close1, tough1, rough1, moist1, tacky2, slimy2, gummy2, pasty, muggy2, ropey, gluey
6 letters
steamy2, sultry2, clammy2, viscid, smeary, slabby, claggy
7 letters
awkward2, viscous2, stringy2
8 letters
adhesive3
9 letters
difficult3, tenacious3, glutinous
10 letters
gelatinous4, unenviable5
12 letters
embarrassing4, mucilaginous

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (tacky2 = 2 syllables).

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