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
-
Perhaps no local official exemplifies the state’s dilemma more than Commissioner Jon Lubke of Crow Wing County in the central Minnesota lakes region.—
Jeremy Fugleberg,
Twin Cities,
23 May 2026
-
That environment presents Warsh with a dilemma the Fed has no clean answer to.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
23 May 2026
Noun
-
In the same way that audiences are trying to unpack the central scheme — or interlocking set of schemes — at the center of Paula’s newfound predicament, so was the Emmy-winning Maslany drawn to the inscrutability of her character.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
24 May 2026
-
Given the predicament most managers are in, what are ambitious leaders to do?—
Cynthia Pong,
Forbes.com,
24 May 2026
Noun
-
Susie notes that many familiar foods fall into this category, including yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut and kimchi; aged cheeses like cheddar, gouda and parmesan; as well as miso, tempeh, kombucha, soy sauce, authentic sourdough bread and certain pickles.—
Daryl Austin,
USA Today,
23 May 2026
-
The difference between a pickle that supports your gut and one that mostly just delivers salt comes down to how it was made.—
Samantha Agate,
Kansas City Star,
23 May 2026
Noun
-
Like on the par-4 14th hole Monday, when her usual left-to-right ball flight with the driver went in the opposite direction and sailed into a hillside abutting the fairway.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 May 2026
-
The Arsia Mons volcano is of particular interest to NASA because the agency spotted holes in the shield where the volcanic ceiling had collapsed, leaving skylights behind and revealing a vast tunnel network within.—
Tom Brown,
Space.com,
25 May 2026
Noun
-
Yet polls show the president has been leading Republicans into politically perilous territory with the broader electorate, and his demands of absolute loyalty could put GOP lawmakers in a bind as the midterm election approaches with many of the president’s policies proving unpopular.—
Zac Anderson,
USA Today,
20 May 2026
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Analysts have tried to forecast how much academic carnage will result from this demographic bind.—
Jay Caspian Kang,
New Yorker,
19 May 2026
Noun
-
However, there is a free and easy remedy to get out of the rabbit hole.—
John Shumway,
CBS News,
20 May 2026
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And that’s what sent me sort of tumbling down the rabbit hole.—
Torie Bosch,
STAT,
16 May 2026
Noun
-
That a massive prison in the middle of a swamp turned out to be a boondoggle is a surprise only to Ron DeSantis and James Uthmeier.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
24 May 2026
-
The ‘banter’ era settled in, with every collapse, every disappointment, every failure amplified in the fever swamps of social media.—
Ian Crouch,
New Yorker,
20 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 27 May. 2026.
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