stickler
/ˈstɪk.lə/
stickler noun: a referee or adjudicator at a fight, wrestling match, duel, etc. who ensures fair play.
Noun
stickler (plural sticklers)
- A referee or adjudicator at a fight, wrestling match, duel, etc. who ensures fair play.
- In ancient time they were wont to employ third persons as sticklers, to see no treachery or disorder were used, and to beare witnes of the combates successe.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 27, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
- Basilius, the judge, appointed sticklers and trumpets whom the others should obey.c. 1580 (date written), Philippe Sidnei [i.e., Philip Sidney], “[The Second Booke] Chapter 1”, in [Fulke Greville; Matthew Gwinne; John Florio], editors, The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia [The New...
- Someone who insistently advocates for something, especially for strict observance of a formal rule.
- Lexicographers are sticklers for correct language.
- The Tory or High-church were the greatest sticklers against the exorbitant proceedings of King James II.1713, Jonathan Swift, A Preface to Bishop Burnet's Introduction
- Synonyms:
- dogmatist, formalist, pedant, traditionalist
Proper noun capitalized: Stickler
Stickler (plural Sticklers)
- A surname.
stickler meaning in Tamil and Bengali
stickler in Tamil
- கடினமான பிரச்சனை, விடாப்பிடியர், உறுதியானவர்
stickler in Bengali
- নিয়মনিষ্ঠ ব্যক্তি, জেদী ব্যক্তি
Examples of stickler in a sentence
- Our former chiefs, like sticklers of the war, / First sought to inflame the parties, then to poise.1658, John Dryden, Stanza to Oliver Cromwell:
- For the sticklers, here "final demand" is meant to include inventory investment.2024, Jeremy B. Rudd, A Practical Guide to Macroeconomics, page 12:
Synonyms of stickler
Forms of stickler
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | sticklers |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Sticklers |
Origin of stickler
From Middle English stighteler, stytelere, equivalent to stickle + -er. The judges at Cornish wrestling matches do indeed carry sticks which serve for signalling and as a badge of their office. This practice has evolved from holding swords and then swordsticks.
Words formed from stickler
Phrases with stickler
Questions about stickler
- What does stickler mean?
- Stickler means a referee or adjudicator at a fight, wrestling match, duel, etc. who ensures fair play.
- What is stickler in Tamil?
- Stickler in Tamil is கடினமான பிரச்சனை, விடாப்பிடியர், உறுதியானவர். See Stickler meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use stickler in a sentence?
- Our former chiefs, like sticklers of the war, / First sought to inflame the parties, then to poise.
- What part of speech is stickler?
- Stickler can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce stickler?
- Stickler is pronounced /ˈstɪk.lə/ (UK).
- What is the plural of stickler?
- The plural of stickler is sticklers.
Words near stickler in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: stickler (page history and authors); Stickler (page history and authors); stickler (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); stickler (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-stickler.wav.
Cite this entry: “stickler.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/stickler. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.