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
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
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
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
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
Noun
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Many of Cuomo’s mayoral race opponents have condemned the spending, saying the PAC gives him an unfair advantage in the race and poses an ethical dilemma since many of its contributors have city government business interests.—
Chris Sommerfeldt,
New York Daily News,
27 May 2025
-
Here are eight passages that capture the new pope’s thinking as a young scholar on leadership, authority and some of the church’s most pressing dilemmas.—
Ruth Graham,
New York Times,
22 May 2025
Noun
-
In fact, the predicament of Enphase Energy illustrates the risks of heavily investing in a single stock.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
-
Two boaters were rescued from a treacherous predicament on a raging river in Maryland, officials said.—
Brooke Baitinger,
Miami Herald,
21 May 2025
Noun
-
With them, came pickles, tomato sauce and jammy eggs.—
Laurie Ochoa,
Los Angeles Times,
24 May 2025
-
The vibe is retro, the pickles are sharp, and there’s always something new on the specials board.—
Keyla Vasconcellos,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2025
Noun
-
Other cavity nesters such as woodpeckers will make holes in trees, and those can also be adopted by tree swallows, flickers, kestrels and chickadees.—
Ernie Cowan,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
25 May 2025
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For decades, conservationists successfully plugged that hole by arguing in court that the ESA’s prohibition of harm to individual species includes destroying a species’ habitat.—
Emma Marris,
The Atlantic,
25 May 2025
Noun
-
Some frustrated residents say the bureaucratic bind is emblematic of long-standing discrimination.—
Stephanie Yang,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2025
-
On Rikers, a thicket of laws and lore, regulations and culture bind and barnacle decision-making.—
Elizabeth Glazer,
New York Daily News,
18 May 2025
Noun
-
This is going down a rabbit hole of a lot of things because of the shortcomings of the vehicle.—
Eric Berger,
ArsTechnica,
4 June 2025
-
But more importantly, the reviews sent me down the gourmand fragrance reviews rabbit hole.—
Emily Farris,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
28 May 2025
Noun
-
In Louisiana, alligators live mostly along the state’s coastal marshes but also can be found in its canals, bayous, rivers and swamps.—
Noël Fletcher,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
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From swamp to salinity In Western Australia, sediment cores from the beds of Lake Aerodrome, Gastropod Lake and Prado Lake reveal how long-term drying can change the ecology of a region.—
Francisca Oboh Ikuenobe,
The Conversation,
20 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 8 Jun. 2025.
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