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
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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
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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
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But the committee faced a dilemma.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
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If the goal is a lineup with as few holes as possible, the Hurricanes do so more emphatically than any other team in the league.—
The Athletic NHL,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
-
The wire makes digging up the bulbs more difficult, but allows the foliage to easily grow through the wire holes.—
Mary Marlowe Leverette,
Southern Living,
2 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
-
Together, O’Neill and Alicia navigate a rabbit hole of deranged folk singers, psychotic cops, boxing promoters, line dancing enthusiasts, and worst of all, podcasters, the truth blurs, bodies stack, and the nature of their search comes into question.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
3 Oct. 2025
-
Backstage at All Things Go in New York, the singer-songwriter pulled Rolling Stone into her YouTube rabbit hole while going through her playlist on the latest installment of Song Shuffle.—
Larisha Paul,
Rolling Stone,
2 Oct. 2025
Noun
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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
-
Bowhunting conditions were ideal on Friday afternoon, when 34-year-old Mitch Piepenburg headed toward a small food plot surrounded by a dense private swamp in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.—
Bob McNally,
Outdoor Life,
2 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 9 Oct. 2025.
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