ENGLISH
REFERENCE

sticky

adj.
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford US //ˈstɪki// UK //stˈɪki// sticky Archaic General-service Informal Slang

adj. covered in a substance that makes things cling to it, like glue or honey. It can also describe a difficult situation or a website that keeps people coming back.

adj. tending or designed to adhere to surfaces on contact. In a digital or commercial context, it describes content or platforms that successfully retain user attention or repeat customers.


SIMPLE

My fingers are sticky from the orange juice.

CONTEXTUAL

The developers added a daily reward system to make the mobile app more sticky for new users.

COMPLEX

Negotiations reached a sticky point when neither side could agree on the budget, requiring a neutral mediator to help the teams find common ground.

Synonyms
Origin

From stick + -y.

Usage

Commonly used figuratively in business to describe customer retention or in social contexts to describe awkward situations.

Idioms3 entries

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