tacky
/ˈtæki/
tacky adjective: of a substance, slightly sticky. Also the alternative form of tackey.
Adjective (1)
tacky (comparative tackier, superlative tackiest)
- Of a substance, slightly sticky.
- This paint isn't dry yet; it's still a bit tacky.
Adjective (2)
tacky (comparative tackier, superlative tackiest)
- Of low quality.
- That market stall sells all sorts of tacky ornaments.
- In poor taste.
- That was a tacky thing to say.
- Gaudy or flashy.
- Steve Randle was seventeen, tall and lean, with thick greasy hair he kept combed in complicated swirls. He was tacky, smart, and Soda's best buddy since grade school.1967, S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders
- Shabby, dowdy in one's appearance or dress.
- Synonyms:
- dowdy
Also used as
tacky is also the alternative form of tackey.
tacky meaning in Tagalog and Indonesian
tacky in Tagalog
- colloquial: of low quality
- baduy
- colloquial: in bad taste
- baduy
tacky in Indonesian
- colloquial: of low quality
- receh
- colloquial: in bad taste
- receh
Examples of tacky in a sentence
- The flowers were artificial, and he thought them rather tacky.
- But this was not a scene of drunken holiday carnage in tacky discos.
- She wears a tacky T.A.R.D.I.S blue cardigan, buttoned to the max, over khaki slacks.
Synonyms of tacky
Forms of tacky
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | tackier |
| superlative | tackiest |
| Noun | |
| plural | tackies |
Origin of tacky
From tack + -y.
Sense “in poor taste” from 1888, from earlier sense meaning shabby or seedy. Also see tackey (“neglected horse”), Southern US colloquialism from 1800s, later extended to people.
Words formed from tacky
Phrases with tacky
Words that rhyme with tacky
Questions about tacky
- What does tacky mean?
- Tacky means of a substance, slightly sticky.
- What is tacky in Tagalog?
- Tacky in Tagalog is baduy. See Tacky meaning in Tagalog.
- What part of speech is tacky?
- Tacky is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce tacky?
- Tacky is pronounced /ˈtæki/.
Words near tacky in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: tacky (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-tacky.wav.
Cite this entry: “tacky.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tacky. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.