Word
hickey
Phoneticshick·ey
US/ˈhɪki/
UK/hˈɪki/
Definition
n. a red or purple mark on the skin caused by someone kissing or sucking it. It is usually found on the neck and stays for a few days.
n. a temporary red or purple mark on the skin, typically the neck, caused by suction during kissing. Often associated with adolescent or informal contexts.
Examples
“He wore a scarf to hide a hickey on his neck.”
“She felt embarrassed when her colleagues noticed the hickey she had tried to cover with makeup.”
“While harmless from a medical perspective, a hickey often carries a social stigma of indiscretion, leading many to use high collars or cosmetics to conceal the bruising.”
Examples
simple
“He wore a scarf to hide a hickey on his neck.”
contextual
“She felt embarrassed when her colleagues noticed the hickey she had tried to cover with makeup.”
complex
“While harmless from a medical perspective, a hickey often carries a social stigma of indiscretion, leading many to use high collars or cosmetics to conceal the bruising.”
Usage
Informal in register; common in North American and Australian English.
Etymology
From Irish Ó hÍcidhe (“descendant of a healer”), from ící (“healer”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/hickey