as in unpleasant
not giving pleasure to the mind or senses
the novel has an icky sentimentality that makes my skin crawl
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of icky
No one wants to look at the ceiling or wall and see icky brown or black dots covering the area.
—
Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 31 Mar. 2026
Is signing off with ‘love’ now icky?
—Judith Martin, Dallas Morning News, 23 Mar. 2026
And while the recent icky stuff did eat away at some snow surface, there’s still plenty there.
—Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 18 Mar. 2026
Ultimately, Franco jettisons his characters for the sake of unearned plot twists that leave the viewer feeling only icky.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 28 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for icky
Ashlyn Needham, Southern Living, 31 Mar. 2026
Is signing off with ‘love’ now icky?
—Judith Martin, Dallas Morning News, 23 Mar. 2026
And while the recent icky stuff did eat away at some snow surface, there’s still plenty there.
—Moira McCarthy, Boston Herald, 18 Mar. 2026
Ultimately, Franco jettisons his characters for the sake of unearned plot twists that leave the viewer feeling only icky.
—Katie Walsh, Twin Cities, 28 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for icky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for icky
Adjective
-
Residents who have discussed the issue online described the smell as one of the most unpleasant aspects of the ongoing seaweed buildup.—
Kelly McGreal,
FOXNews.com,
13 June 2026
-
The figure-skimming silhouette also prevents the unpleasant feeling of sweating in too-tight clothes.—
Sophie Dodd,
Travel + Leisure,
12 June 2026
Adjective
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Ahead of the holiday, the City of Rancho Cordova is cracking down with much harsher penalties.—
Brady Halbleib,
CBS News,
19 June 2026
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Members of his party who want even harsher border controls have splintered off to form Restore Britain, which has gained support from Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is vociferously backing it on his X platform.—
Alexander Smith,
NBC news,
18 June 2026
Adjective
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The remarks not only referred to the aesthetics of the game – tedious matches devoid of skillful merit that were unpleasing to watch.—
Cesar R. Torres,
The Conversation,
26 May 2026
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Usually a team of elegant offense, Michigan instead clanked 13 triples off the rim and relied on its inside defensive ferocity to win a game nearly as aesthetically unpleasing as UConn’s 53-41 win over Butler in 2011.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Brunson is at his best when everything is at its worst, blessed with belief that seems at times desperate and determination that can feel almost manic.—
Dana O’Neil,
CNN Money,
14 June 2026
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All of the club’s worst seasons prior to 1965 took place from 1932 and before.—
Mac Cerullo,
Boston Herald,
14 June 2026
Adjective
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Those early 2010s Blackhawks teams were nasty, and they were all led by Toews.—
Matt Reigle,
FOXNews.com,
19 June 2026
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Lindy Ruff’s system was a tough fit, and a nasty ankle injury derailed his initial momentum in upstate New York.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
17 June 2026
Adjective
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Both state and church are also known for failing to live up to those ideals, for permitting indefensible abuses, for ugly histories.—
Joe Mathews,
Mercury News,
18 June 2026
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Featuring the good, the bad and the ugly, ‘Look of the Week’ is a regular series dedicated to unpacking the most talked about outfit of the last seven days.—
Fiona Sinclair Scott,
CNN Money,
17 June 2026
Adjective
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The Rookie, for example, combines mezcal with amaro, grapefruit and Thai chili–a little sweet, a little sour, and beautifully balanced to complement all the food on the menu.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
18 June 2026
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There’s marigold and chamomile for their significance in Mexican culture, and the hibiscus flower, which has a long history across the Pacific Rim, tracing a lot of the places that ended up with chamoy and sour plums.—
Stephanie Shih
June 17,
Los Angeles Times,
17 June 2026
Adjective
-
The companies try to slow down this process by submerging it in oil, but the resulting flavor is horrible.—
Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner,
Martha Stewart,
13 June 2026
-
Your cab driver is taking you on a horrible route.—
Zach Schiffman,
Curbed,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Icky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/icky. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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