tacky

English

Etymology 1

tack +‎ -y

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtæki/

• Rhymes: -æki

Adjective

tacky (comparative tackier, superlative tackiest)

1. Of a substance, slightly sticky.

   Hypernyms: see Thesaurus:adhesive

   This paint isn't dry yet; it's still a bit tacky.

Translations

slightly sticky

• Danish: let klæbende
• Finnish: tahmea (fi), tarttuva (fi)
• German: klebrig (de)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Latvian: lipīgs
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Polish: lepki (pl) m
• Portuguese: pegajoso (pt), grudento (pt)
• Russian: ли́пкий (ru) (lípkij)
• Spanish: pegajoso (es) m

Etymology 2

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtæki/

• Rhymes: -æki

Adjective

tacky (comparative tackier, superlative tackiest)

2. (colloquial) Of low quality.

   That market stall sells all sorts of tacky ornaments.

3. (colloquial) In poor taste.

   That was a tacky thing to say.

4. Gaudy or flashy.

   Synonyms: flashy, showy, garish

   • 1967, S. E. Hinton, The Outsiders

     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.

5. Shabby, dowdy in one's appearance or dress.

   Synonym: dowdy

Derived terms

• ticky-tacky

Translations

colloquial: of low quality

• Danish: billig (da)
• Dutch: slecht (nl), goedkoop (nl)
• Finnish: halpa (fi), rihkama- (prefix in a compound), tökerö
• German: billig (de)
• Indonesian: receh (id)
• Polish: tandetny (pl) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: fajuto (pt) m
• Russian: аляпова́тый (ru) (aljapovátyj), низкопро́бный (ru) (nizkopróbnyj), низкока́чественный (ru) (nizkokáčestvennyj), дешёвый (ru) (dešóvyj) (cheap)
• Spanish: chopo (Dominican Republic), naco (Mexico), de mal gusto, cutre (es) c
• Tagalog: baduy

colloquial: in bad taste

• Danish: smagløs
• Dutch: smakeloos (nl)
• Esperanto: malbongusta, puca (literary), kiĉa (literary)
• Finnish: mauton (fi), tyylitön
• French: quétaine (fr) (Quebec)
• German: geschmacklos (de)
• Indonesian: receh (id)
• Italian: di cattivo gusto, tamarro (it), pacchiano (it) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: smakløs (no), harry (no)

  Nynorsk: smaklaus, harry

• Portuguese: de mau gosto (pt), brega (pt), cafona (pt), piroso (pt) m
• Russian: безвку́сный (ru) (bezvkúsnyj)
• Spanish: chopo (Dominican Republic), naco (Mexico), cursi (es), cutre (es) c
• Tagalog: baduy

gaudy, flashy, showy, garish

• Italian: pacchiano (it), appariscente (it)
• Portuguese: espalhafatoso (pt), mirabolante (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: крича́щий (ru) (kričáščij), бро́ский (ru) (bróskij), мишу́рный (ru) (mišúrnyj), показно́й (ru) (pokaznój)
• Spanish: de mal gusto

dowdy, shabbily dressed

• Portuguese: cafona (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: бе́дно оде́тый (bédno odétyj)

dowdy, shabby (in one's appearance)

• Portuguese: desleixado (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: неэлега́нтный (neelegántnyj), неря́шливый (ru) (nerjášlivyj)

Noun

tacky (plural tackies)

1. Alternative form of tackey