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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
In the interstices of all that, at a bar one sweaty night, Wyeth meets Keating, a seminarian on a hiatus of sorts whose spiritual dilemma becomes imbricated in his own.—
Lauren Michele Jackson,
New Yorker,
5 Oct. 2025
-
But the committee faced a dilemma.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
So, despite their predicament, these operators remain hopeful that circumstances will change soon enough, even if now the path is unclear.—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
2 Oct. 2025
-
Athletic Club are in a similar predicament.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Fries, chicken, cut tomatoes and pickles were stored without covers.—
Sarah Linn,
Sacbee.com,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The vegan sub includes vegan lunch meats and cheese and all the fixins, lettuce, tomato, onion and pickles, as the nonvegan version.—
Susan Selasky,
Freep.com,
2 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
-
Tylenol and the pressure to 'tough it out' Medical experts and scholars worry that the recent claims about Tylenol put pregnant women and families in a difficult bind.—
Juliana Kim,
NPR,
26 Sep. 2025
-
Kimmel show pause Disney's own stars also began to voice dissent, presenting a bind for a company that relies on big names to promote its signature franchises.—
Anna Kaufman,
USA Today,
23 Sep. 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 13 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share