sticky wicket

noun

: a difficult or delicate problem or situation

Examples of sticky wicket in a Sentence

It's a bit of a sticky wicket. She was on a sticky wicket when she saw her friend steal the fund-raiser money.
Recent Examples on the Web 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 In contrast, altering and editing an image can be a much more nuanced process that makes determining what part is from humans a sticky wicket. Drew McLellan, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023 As with all questions of volcanic behaviour, the real sticky wicket is timing. Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2023 Ant Group are currently on a sticky wicket. Prathamesh Mulye, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2021 What is a sticky wicket is when partner is subordinate to the other. Jenna Reyes, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Jan. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sticky wicket.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sticky wicket was in 1950

Dictionary Entries Near sticky wicket

Cite this Entry

“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 7 Oct. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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