sticky

Universal Words adjective (stickier, stickiest) 1 made of or covered in a substance that sticks to things that touch it: sticky fingers covered in jam * Stir in the milk to make a soft but not sticky dough. 2 (of paper, labels, etc.) with glue on one side so that you can stick it to a surface 3 (informal) (of the weather) hot and damp: a sticky, humid afternoon 4 (informal) (of a person) feeling hot and uncomfortable SYNSWEATY: She felt hot and sticky after six hours on the bus. 5 (informal) difficult or unpleasant: a sticky problem / situation * Their relationship is going through a sticky patch and they've decided to have counselling. stickily adverb stickiness noun [U] IDIOMS have sticky fingers (informal) to be likely to steal sth a sticky wicket (BrE, informal) a difficult situation moreatENDn.