icky

See also: -ický and -ičký

English

Etymology

1935, American English; from icky-boo (circa 1920): sickly, nauseated; baby talk corruption of sick; from a sentimental term for jazz music.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪki/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪki

Adjective

icky (comparative ickier, superlative ickiest)

1. (informal) Unpleasantly sticky; yucky; disgusting.

   Synonyms: gross, ishy

   I stepped in something icky and it smells terrible.

   • 2013 February 15, Wayne Drash, “On crippled cruise ship, icky jobs fell to ‘amazing’ crew”, in CNN‎^[1], Atlanta, Ga.: Warner Bros. Discovery, archived from the original on 22 November 2018:

     Crew member Sachin Sharma of India said workers had no problems with being thrust into the icky job of handling the red bags filled with human waste.

2. (informal) Excessively sentimental.

   Synonyms: schmaltzy, syrupy, treacly; see also Thesaurus:mawkish

3. (informal) Unwell or upset; in a bad state of mind or health.

   Synonyms: bad, poorly, sick; see also Thesaurus:ill

   I'm not going to work today. I just feel icky.

Derived terms

• ickily
• ickiness
• icky-poo
• sticky-icky

Related terms

• ick

Translations

unpleasantly sticky; yucky; disgusting

• Bulgarian: лепкав (bg) (lepkav)
• Esperanto: aĉa (eo), malbongustega
• Finnish: yököttävä (fi), (colloquial) ällö (fi)
• French: dégueulasse (fr), dégueu (fr) (colloquial), dégoûtant (fr)
• German: eklig (de), ekelig (de), fies klebrig
• Italian: disgustoso (it) m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ekkel

• Polish: be (pl) (childish)
• Portuguese: meloso m
• Swedish: äcklig (sv)

excessively sentimental

• Bulgarian: сладникав (sladnikav)
• French: cucul (fr) (colloquial), mièvre (fr), sirupeux (fr) m
• German: kitschig (de)
• Italian: sdolcinato (it) m, svenevole (it) m or f
• Swedish: sliskig (sv)