Nearby Words

tacky

[tak-ee] Origin

tack·y

1[tak-ee]
adjective, tack·i·er, tack·i·est.
sticky to the touch; adhesive.

Origin:
1780–90; tack1 + -y1

tack·i·ness, noun

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Tacky is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

tack·y

2[tak-ee]
adjective, tack·i·er, tack·i·est.
1.
not tasteful or fashionable; dowdy.
2.
shabby in appearance; shoddy: a tacky, jerry-built housing development.
3.
crass; cheaply vulgar; tasteless; crude.
4.
gaudy; flashy; showy.

Origin:
1880–85, Americanism; apparently identical with earlier tack(e)y small horse, pony, poor farmer; of obscure origin

tack·i·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
tacky or tackey1 (ˈtækɪ)
 
adj , tackier, tackiest
slightly sticky or adhesive: the varnish was still tacky
 
[C18: from tack1 (in the sense: stickiness)]
 
tackey or tackey1
 
adj
 
[C18: from tack1 (in the sense: stickiness)]
 
'tackily or tackey1
 
adv
 
'tackiness or tackey1
 
n

tacky2 (ˈtækɪ)
 
adj , tackier, tackiest
1.  shabby or shoddy
2.  ostentatious and vulgar
3.  (US) (of a person) dowdy; seedy
 
[C19: from dialect tacky an inferior horse, of unknown origin]
 
'tackiness2
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

tacky
"sticky," 1788, from tack (1) in the sense of "an act of attaching temporarily."
EXPAND

tacky
"in poor taste," 1862, adj. use of tackey (n.) "small or inferior horse" (1800), later "hillbilly, cracker" (1888), of uncertain origin.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

tacky definition


  1. mod.
    cheap; crude. : That was a tacky thing to do to her.
  2. mod.
    alcohol intoxicated. : Tom was a little tacky, so he gave me his car keys.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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