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
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Recent Examples of sticky wicket
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
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
As with all questions of volcanic behaviour, the real sticky wicket is timing.
—Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2023
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
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
As with all questions of volcanic behaviour, the real sticky wicket is timing.
—Erik Klemetti, Discover Magazine, 13 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sticky wicket
Noun
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Ben Colman, co-founder and CEO of Reality Defender, a company specializing in deepfake detection, weighed in on the designer's dilemma.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
-
The political dilemma facing Trump and the Republicans is one that an earlier generation of conservative revolutionaries faced forty-odd years ago.—
John Cassidy,
The New Yorker,
3 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
Now, there are clearly two ways out of this predicament for Leeds United.—
Jordan Campbell,
The Athletic,
26 Feb. 2025
-
Is there a way out of our divided country’s seemingly hopeless predicament?—
Jackie Strause,
The Hollywood Reporter,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
New foods include chicken bacon ranch waffle stick, pickle juice lemonade, flaming hot chili mac dog and more.—
Shafaq Patel,
Axios,
28 Feb. 2025
-
Fact checked by Sarah Scott Think a hankering for pickle juice is just a weird pregnancy quirk?—
Hannah Silverman,
Parents,
26 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
The second-deepest hole, the German Continental Deep Drilling Programme, stretches 5.6 miles.—
Brent Crane,
The New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2025
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Cracks and ridges in the ice constantly shifted the route to a permanent hole in the ice, named Ocean City, from which Hoppe and her team gathered hundreds of liters of seawater samples and hauled them back to the ship for analysis.—
Asher Elbein,
WIRED,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The number can fluctuate and still be manipulated if the team opts to restructure other players’ current contracts, which could grant Miami more room to operate in the short term but put the Dolphins in a bigger bind, piling on salary cap obligations in future seasons.—
David Furones,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Mar. 2025
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That’s why Republicans find themselves in such a bind: Medicaid is really popular these days and most Americans — even Republicans living in red states — don’t want to lose it.—
Dylan Scott,
Vox,
7 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
So far, he’s gone down the rabbit hole with Gene Simmons, Tom Morello and Sharon Osbourne, and a trailer teases upcoming chats with Carnie Wilson, Richie Sambora, Corey Feldman, Paul Williams, Robby Krieger, the late Sam Moore and more.—
Rachel DeSantis,
People.com,
25 Feb. 2025
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Together the two enter a whirlwind romance sending them down the rabbit hole of drugs and depravity in Manhattan’s underworld.—
Samantha Bergeson,
IndieWire,
20 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Efforts to create an EU presidency also floundered in a swamp of competing power centers and polysyllabic titles.—
Gordon G. Chang,
Newsweek,
3 Mar. 2025
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The video was recorded by writer and film producer Jennifer Berglund of Savannah, who reported another alligator appeared to pursue the male through the swamp after his display, officials said.—
Mark Price,
Miami Herald,
26 Feb. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.
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