ickier; ickiest
: offensive to the senses or sensibilities : distasteful
put off by her icky triteness—
Renata Adler
Renata AdlerSynonyms
Examples of icky in a Sentence
The trail was icky with mud.
the novel has an icky sentimentality that makes my skin crawl
Recent Examples on the Web
Poking fun at the doctor’s ambient sexism and largely eliminating his icky detour into eugenics are likewise improvements, as is an overall trim that reduces the playing time of the five-act play to barely two hours.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024
Gosh, the optics here just don’t feel … something feels icky about this for some reason.
—Vulture, 17 Jan. 2024
Director: Joseph Kosinski Tommy Wirkola’s gooey, pleasantly icky Christmas action-comedy is a mix of childlike whimsy and gleeful gore.
—EW.com, 31 Jan. 2024
Your poncho will be a green, icky mess, but the only part of you that gets wet is (hopefully) your bare feet.
—Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
Done with the coughing and my clothes smelling all sticky icky.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 20 Nov. 2023
For those who can’t bear the thought of an icky seat, there are plenty of disposable and reusable seat covers on the market.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 3 Dec. 2023
In spite of their spooky, kooky, and pukey, icky, sticky, and sicky, and hairy, scary, and extra-ordinary appearance, monsters can be very funny:
What kind of hot dogs do monsters like best?
Hallowieners.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Oct. 2023
Study Bugs Your kids can search for particularly icky bugs underneath rocks.
—Nicole Harris, Parents, 25 Oct. 2023
Jesse Green, New York Times, 18 Mar. 2024
Gosh, the optics here just don’t feel … something feels icky about this for some reason.
—Vulture, 17 Jan. 2024
Director: Joseph Kosinski Tommy Wirkola’s gooey, pleasantly icky Christmas action-comedy is a mix of childlike whimsy and gleeful gore.
—EW.com, 31 Jan. 2024
Your poncho will be a green, icky mess, but the only part of you that gets wet is (hopefully) your bare feet.
—Madeleine Marr, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
Done with the coughing and my clothes smelling all sticky icky.
—Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 20 Nov. 2023
For those who can’t bear the thought of an icky seat, there are plenty of disposable and reusable seat covers on the market.
—Stacey Leasca, Travel + Leisure, 3 Dec. 2023
In spite of their spooky, kooky, and pukey, icky, sticky, and sicky, and hairy, scary, and extra-ordinary appearance, monsters can be very funny:
What kind of hot dogs do monsters like best?
Hallowieners.
—Richard Lederer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 28 Oct. 2023
Study Bugs Your kids can search for particularly icky bugs underneath rocks.
—Nicole Harris, Parents, 25 Oct. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'icky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Icky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/icky. Accessed 16 Apr. 2024.
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