as in dilemma
a difficult, puzzling, or embarrassing situation from which there is no easy escape
with both sets of in-laws insisting that we spend Thanksgiving with them, we were on a sticky wicket indeed
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Recent Examples of sticky wicket
Of philosophy’s many sticky wickets, consciousness is perhaps the most perplexing.
—
Kevin Dickinson, Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025
To that, timestamps may prove a sticky wicket for a part of Baldoni’s argument against the Times.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 17 Mar. 2025
The other sticky wicket in the Paramount-Skydance merger is Trump’s current lawsuit against CBS News.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
That third spot is a sticky wicket for a team projected to be just outside the top five in the game.
—Eno Sarris, The Athletic, 7 Jan. 2025
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK published 18 September 2024
A cricketing powerhouse for decades, Pakistan's national team have suddenly found themselves on a sticky wicket.
—Harriet Marsden, theweek, 18 Sep. 2024
Much of its lexicon sounds both unapproachable and, well, just weird: sticky wicket, googly, yorker, jaffa, daisy cutter, silly mid off, maiden over, tickle, nurdle, trundler, paddle scoop, popping crease, golden duck.
—Chris Heath, The Atlantic, 25 July 2024
While reforms have been proposed in the past under other leaders, they have gotten caught up in a sticky wicket of state bureaucracy.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 20 June 2024
The situation is a sticky wicket, to use an old-fashioned term from the sport of cricket, for the countless interest groups that depend on money from the budget.
—Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 4 May 2024
Kevin Dickinson, Big Think, 20 Aug. 2025
To that, timestamps may prove a sticky wicket for a part of Baldoni’s argument against the Times.
—Dominic Patten, Deadline, 17 Mar. 2025
The other sticky wicket in the Paramount-Skydance merger is Trump’s current lawsuit against CBS News.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
That third spot is a sticky wicket for a team projected to be just outside the top five in the game.
—Eno Sarris, The Athletic, 7 Jan. 2025
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK published 18 September 2024
A cricketing powerhouse for decades, Pakistan's national team have suddenly found themselves on a sticky wicket.
—Harriet Marsden, theweek, 18 Sep. 2024
Much of its lexicon sounds both unapproachable and, well, just weird: sticky wicket, googly, yorker, jaffa, daisy cutter, silly mid off, maiden over, tickle, nurdle, trundler, paddle scoop, popping crease, golden duck.
—Chris Heath, The Atlantic, 25 July 2024
While reforms have been proposed in the past under other leaders, they have gotten caught up in a sticky wicket of state bureaucracy.
—Christopher Keating, Hartford Courant, 20 June 2024
The situation is a sticky wicket, to use an old-fashioned term from the sport of cricket, for the countless interest groups that depend on money from the budget.
—Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 4 May 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sticky wicket
Noun
-
Flaherty has a $20 million player option for next season and could make more by opting out and accepting the qualifying offer, which presents an interesting dilemma.—
Cody Stavenhagen,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 2025
-
That points to the major dilemma underpinning Sharaa’s position.—
Mireille Rebeiz,
The Conversation,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Shaw spent the next two decades in prison, determined to make something positive out of her predicament.—
Johnny Dodd,
PEOPLE,
10 Oct. 2025
-
Netanyahu systematically ignored this imperative and thus dragged Israel into its current predicament.—
Ehud Barak,
Time,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Avoid an acid overload of tart and tangy (pickles and citrus), a bold flavor competition, sweet and funky flavors colliding (fruity jams and aged cheeses), and a clash of spicy meats and cheeses with delicate fruits and accompaniments.—
Catharine Kaufman,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Eggs, pickles, pimientos, and plenty of Yukon golds are the heroes of this praise-worthy potato salad.—
Josh Miller,
Southern Living,
12 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
An enormous hole opens up in the ceiling of Linda’s apartment, flooding the place and forcing her and her daughter to relocate to a motel.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
9 Oct. 2025
-
In August, Kravitz told Meyers that her mom's pet snake, Orpheus, had gotten loose and slithered into a small hole in the corner of the bathroom.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The organization was in a bureaucratic bind, and had to find a way to hold what should have been the second major of 2020 or risk financial peril.—
Matthew Futterman,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 2025
-
The corporation is in something of a bind, with its decision almost certain to generate criticism either way.—
Jake Kanter,
Deadline,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
No time machine could take Russell back to her younger self, the Denver teen-ager who’d fallen down the rabbit hole.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
6 Oct. 2025
-
But after arriving to the property, she’s lured into a desperate scavenger hunt down a perilous rabbit hole.—
Zac Ntim,
Deadline,
6 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
And while the experiments show the presence of microlightning between bubbles, the glow was not reproduced at a level that would be seen in a swamp.—
Mindy Weisberger,
CNN Money,
8 Oct. 2025
-
The Shepman's swamp chestnut oak stands at 95 feet in height with a 318-inch circumference and a canopy spread of 118 feet.—
John Tufts,
IndyStar,
3 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 17 Oct. 2025.
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