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
- /ˈstɪki/[4]
sticky1 woody
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
sticky2 adhesive
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
- Tending to stick to things it touches; adhesive, or thick and viscous: sticky honey.
- Of weather, hot and humid.
- (informal) Awkward or difficult: We are in a sticky position.
- Of a person, damp with sweat.
- (economics) Of prices or wages, slow to change.
Noun
- (informal) A sticky note, or another thing that sticks.
- (computing) A forum thread set to appear always at the top of the list.
Verb
- To make something sticky.
Word family
- stickily
- stickiness
- stickybeak
Related words
References
- ^ 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
- ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ 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
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ 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)
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.