as in thick
being of a consistency that resists flow
viscous syrup that takes forever to pour from a narrow-neck bottle
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Recent Examples of viscous
Curtis said Gulf Coast refineries are already equipped to handle the viscous Venezuelan oil since those refineries were built to process similar grades of oil from Canada and Mexico.
—
Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Jan. 2026
Nikola Tesla’s bladeless turbine design relies on viscous drag rather than traditional blades to generate rotational motion.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 12 Jan. 2026
While heavy crude oil is what is predominantly being drilled for today, its viscous consistency and high levels of metals and sulfur mean extracting and refining this product is significantly more costly than its light crude counterpart.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 5 Jan. 2026
And its cheap and viscous oil proved to be the perfect blend for American oil companies, which built their entire refinery infrastructure for Venezuela’s brand of crude.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN Money, 4 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for viscous
Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 28 Jan. 2026
Nikola Tesla’s bladeless turbine design relies on viscous drag rather than traditional blades to generate rotational motion.
—Prabhat Ranjan Mishra, Interesting Engineering, 12 Jan. 2026
While heavy crude oil is what is predominantly being drilled for today, its viscous consistency and high levels of metals and sulfur mean extracting and refining this product is significantly more costly than its light crude counterpart.
—Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 5 Jan. 2026
And its cheap and viscous oil proved to be the perfect blend for American oil companies, which built their entire refinery infrastructure for Venezuela’s brand of crude.
—Elisabeth Buchwald, CNN Money, 4 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for viscous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for viscous
Adjective
-
Dramatic footage shows flames and thick black smoke billowing from the area around the airport, while firefighters worked to contain the blaze.—
Moriah Thomas,
CNN Money,
28 Mar. 2026
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The crowd remains thick, spanning the width of the street.—
Jenna Ebbers,
Kansas City Star,
28 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Sometimes that includes sticky or chewy candies.—
Sundeep Venkatesan,
The Conversation,
23 Mar. 2026
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Inspectors found a dead rodent on an at-home sticky trap and noted that the back area smelled of rodent urine.—
Lillie Davidson,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
21 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Viscous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/viscous. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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