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Etymology and origin of the English word sticky

English has two adjectives sticky: a rare one meaning "like a stick, woody", and the usual one meaning "adhesive", formed on the verb stick.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

sticky1 woody

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1542, T. Elyot's Bibliotheca
Ultimate origins
Old English sticcaEnglish -y
Etymology tree of sticky1
inherited borrowed derived
English stick
English sticky

Etymology

It is formed from English stick + -y, from the noun stick with the adjective suffix.[1][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a plant: like a stick, hard and woody, 1542, in Thomas Elyot's Latin dictionary.[1] The Shorter Oxford dates it to the late 16th century.[3]

Semantic evolution

Hogarth used it in 1753 for lines in painting that lack curves, while from 1843 to 1881 a stiff, wooden person could be called sticky.[1] In Northumberland and North Yorkshire dialect, celery and other vegetables were sticky when they were fibrous and tough.[5]

Timeline

  • 1542 – of a plant, woody.[1]
  • 1753 – (painting) lacking curves (Hogarth).[1]
  • 1843 – of a person, stiff and wooden (until 1881).[1]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. (rare) Like a stick; woody.
  2. (obsolete) Of a person, stiff and lacking animation.

sticky2 adhesive

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1688, T. Jones's Welsh–English dictionary
Ultimate origins
Old English sticcaEnglish -y
Etymology tree of sticky2
inherited borrowed derived
English stick
English sticky

Etymology

It is formed from English stick + -y, from the verb stick "to adhere" with the adjective suffix.[1][6][3][7] Etymonline notes that the Old English word for "sticky" was clibbor.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Adhesive, or viscous: 1688, in Thomas Jones's Welsh–English dictionary.[1] Etymonline dates it to 1727, Merriam-Webster to 1731, and the Shorter Oxford to the mid-18th century.[6][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Johnson (1755) defined it as viscous, adhesive or glutinous, quoting Bacon on herbs with a sticky stalk.[8] In the 19th century it took on figurative senses: of a racecourse or cricket pitch softened by rain (1820, 1870), of a hot, humid day (1855, originally American), of a horse that hesitates at jumps (1845), of goods that are slow to sell (1866) and of anything mawkish or sentimental (1841).[1] An awkward or unpleasant situation is sticky from 1871,[1] and the cricket phrase sticky wicket is used figuratively for a difficult situation from 1930.[1] In economics, prices and wages that resist change are sticky from 1904.[1] Sticky-fingered meant thievish in Scots and Rutland dialect.[5]

Timeline

  • 1688 – adhesive, viscid.[1]
  • 1727 – Etymonline's date.[6]
  • 1820 – of a racecourse, soft after rain.[1]
  • 1841 – mawkish, sentimental.[1]
  • 1855 – of weather, hot and humid.[1]
  • 1870 – (cricket) of a pitch drying after rain.[1]
  • 1871 – awkward or difficult.[1]
  • 1904 – (economics) slow to change.[1]
  • 1930 – sticky wicket, a difficult situation.[1]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Tending to stick to things it touches; adhesive, or thick and viscous: sticky honey.
  2. Of weather, hot and humid.
  3. (informal) Awkward or difficult: We are in a sticky position.
  4. Of a person, damp with sweat.
  5. (economics) Of prices or wages, slow to change.

Noun

  1. (informal) A sticky note, or another thing that sticks.
  2. (computing) A forum thread set to appear always at the top of the list.

Verb

  1. To make something sticky.

Word family

  • stickily
  • stickiness
  • stickybeak

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  5. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  6. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  7. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  8. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
Cite this entry

“Sticky.” Etymologically, 22 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/sticky. Accessed 23 Oct. 2026.

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