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
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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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Readers send Miss Manners not only their table and party questions, but those involving the more complicated aspects of life - romance, work, family relationships, child-rearing, death - as well as philosophical and moral dilemmas.—
Judith Martin,
Dallas Morning News,
30 Mar. 2026
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For the present, we’re saddled with the unwieldy dilemma of there being eight major Democratic candidates and just two Republicans.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Lee said financial pressure on cities has contributed to DART’s predicament this year, and simply moving money around won’t help.—
Lilly Kersh,
Dallas Morning News,
28 Mar. 2026
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Councilmember Kent Lee said this winter that the dire predicament facing the city’s Transportation Department should have been the centerpiece of the campaign for a 2024 ballot measure to raise the city’s sales tax.—
David Garrick,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
A little girl who loved green aliens, drinking pickle juice and picking buttercups in the field with her mom.—
Chelsea Bailey,
CNN Money,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Megan Thee Stallion is a genuine fan of the product — she was publicly spotted combining Flamin’ Hot Cheetos with actual pickles before any brand partnership existed.—
Ryan Brennan,
Miami Herald,
27 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Just two weeks ago, Gary Woodland decided ot shared his struggles with post traumatic stress disorder, brought on after a September 2023 surgery, which involved a baseball-sized hole cut from the side of his head, to remove a brain lesion.—
Andrew McCarty,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Canales admits the loss of Robinson leaves a hole in the defensive line rotation.—
Mike Kaye
March 30,
Charlotte Observer,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The tannins in coffee bind to non-heme iron (the type found in most supplements) and form complexes that are difficult for your body to absorb.—
Lauren Manaker,
SELF,
23 Mar. 2026
-
The bread bakery that sits in the middle If stores aren’t willing to raise prices, that puts wholesalers in a bind.—
David Goldman,
CNN Money,
21 Mar. 2026
Noun
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But the process will also create opportunities to make the material more widely available online for consumers who want to go down the rabbit hole of watching every available segment with their favorite stars.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Mar. 2026
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Fetch your boots and prepare to trudge deep into a new rabbit hole.—
Nina Corcoran,
Pitchfork,
23 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
All seagrasses descend from a group of flowering plants that includes the arums and water plantains, many of which grow in swamps or along streams.—
David George Haskell,
Big Think,
27 Mar. 2026
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During a livestream of an airboat tour of a Florida swamp, Peters and a friend repeatedly fired handguns at an alligator.—
Scottie Andrew,
CNN Money,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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