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
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
Ant Group are currently on a sticky wicket.
—Prathamesh Mulye, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2021
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
Ant Group are currently on a sticky wicket.
—Prathamesh Mulye, Quartz, 22 Mar. 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sticky wicket
Noun
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That would be the quiet young man sitting opposite me in a pub in Stockport while the Liverpool vice-captain wrestles with the dilemma of whether to leave for Real Madrid to pursue his dream of winning the Ballon d’Or.—
Oliver Kay,
The Athletic,
8 Feb. 2025
-
Other data showed evidence of moral improvement: people's rates of cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma game from 1956 to 2017 increased.—
Yaakov Katz,
Newsweek,
7 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
That is the predicament Leicester have found themselves in for the last three seasons.—
Rob Tanner,
The Athletic,
4 Feb. 2025
-
Was That a 900 or 1080 on the Halfpipe? X Games Can Now Ask A.I. Image The predicament of Yitzhak Horn embodied the conflict that many feel on the Israeli left.—
Patrick Kingsley,
New York Times,
21 Jan. 2025
Noun
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In the 15-second teaser, the actor can be seen wearing a classic tuxedo, offering to open a jar of pickles for the wrestler struggling to open the lid.—
Carly Thomas,
The Hollywood Reporter,
30 Jan. 2025
-
Jars of free housemade pickles have become customer favorites as well.—
Benjy Egel,
Sacramento Bee,
25 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The starting field of 312 players for the U.S. Amateur Championship will play 18 holes of stroke play on Aug. 12 and 13, with one round at Hazeltine and one at Chaska Town Course, after which the field will be cut to the low 64 scores.—
Todd Abeln,
Twin Cities,
7 Feb. 2025
-
No one wants to poke holes in their walls or deal with peeling paint.—
BestReviews,
The Mercury News,
6 Feb. 2025
Noun
-
But in the global south, the publish-or-perish edict runs up against underdeveloped research infrastructures and education systems, leaving scientists in a bind.—
Guillaume Cabanac,
The Conversation,
29 Jan. 2025
-
While uncertainty swirls, Scopa said the new administration could present an opportunity to make the federal fire services more efficient, but says a hiring freeze would put them in a bind, with many critical senior positions unfilled as fires continue to consume large swaths of California.—
Harriet Blair Rowan,
The Mercury News,
22 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
Of course, not everyone who had these concerns went down the Q rabbit hole.—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
31 Jan. 2025
-
But the quest for knowledge took me down a warm and wonderful rabbit hole for this, the last in our National Soup Month series for 2025 (and on a day that began with 40 degree temps, yikes!).—
Amy Drew Thompson,
Orlando Sentinel,
29 Jan. 2025
Noun
-
When draining the swamp, bring a map and flashlight.—
Matthew Continetti,
National Review,
1 Feb. 2025
-
In a Napolitan News Service survey shared with Secrets, voters signaled support for the president’s moves to halt foreign aid, secure the border, and drain the swamp.—
Paul Bedard,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
29 Jan. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near sticky wicket
Cite this Entry
“Sticky wicket.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sticky%20wicket. Accessed 12 Feb. 2025.
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