sticky wicket

noun

Definition of sticky wicketnext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sticky wicket The sticky wicket, which has been the stickiest for AI-tech megacaps, is investor angst around capital expenditures and a sluggish pace of return that could send the stock on a nosedive. — Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 5 Aug. 2026 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 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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sticky wicket
  1. dilemma
  2. predicament
  3. pickle
  4. hole
  5. bind
  6. rabbit hole
  7. swamp
Noun
  • Getty Images The plight of the A’s in Oakland and the Rays in Tampa Bay has been a Major League Baseball dilemma for decades, spanning the careers of the last two commissioners, Rob Manfred and Bud Selig.
    — Barry M. Bloom, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Gaines and White talked at length at halftime of Friday’s game about their convictions on the trans in women’s sports dilemma.
    — Patricia Babcock McGraw OutKick, FOXNews.com, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of dilemma
Noun
  • Perhaps cognisant of the last time one of his fighters — fellow British heavyweight Fabio Wardley — was in a similar predicament during his bout against Dubois in May.
    — Sarah Shephard, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • While few family businesses are like the Lakers, the broad strokes of the Buss family's predicament are familiar, according to lawyers who spoke to CNBC.
    — Hayley Cuccinello, CNBC, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of predicament
Noun
  • The following month, Marcus and Bakhitar made another strategic decision based on their network's advice, submitting applications to sell pickles at Erewhon and Whole Foods despite barely having any history as a business.
    — Megan Sauer, CNBC, 29 Aug. 2026
  • The smashburger was the same as always, juicy and full of cheese, and the dill and pickle in the Caesar salad brought a bright and refreshing twist to the classic.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of pickle
Noun
  • McIlroy surged into the top-10 on Saturday with a 7-under 63, powered by nine birdies, including three in his final four holes.
    — Gabby Herzig, New York Times, 30 Aug. 2026
  • The researchers engineered an additional GaN layer that naturally creates a second sheet containing mobile holes, called a two-dimensional hole gas, or 2DHG.
    — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of hole
Noun
  • Feasting on neutrality Few illustrate the current bind better than Caitlin Clark.
    — Jerry Brewer, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The Hightower high lord and his armies have occupied Tumbleton and have Rhaenyra in something of a bind.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 26 July 2026
Definition of bind
Noun
  • TikTok diamond auctions have since led him down a rabbit hole.
    — Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 16 Aug. 2026
  • So when her son, Reed, now 15, was diagnosed with dyslexia 10 years ago, Knopf went down a rabbit hole of literacy education.
    — Amy Drew Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of rabbit hole
Noun
  • Spending more time crafting weak-salsa anti-Latino jokes than improving the lives of Latinos — that’s the racist swamp the president and his team happily fester in.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 29 Aug. 2026
  • They can also be found in a variety of habitats, including forests, grasslands, scrub brush, swamps and deserts.
    — Jordan Greene, PEOPLE, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of swamp

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Cite this Entry

“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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