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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

Related forms
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.
LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
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

Related forms
tack·i·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To tacky
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."
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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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