Sticky vs. Tacky — What's the Difference?

Having the property of adhering or sticking to a surface; adhesive.

Slightly adhesive or gummy to the touch; sticky.

Covered with an adhesive agent.

Lacking style or good taste; tawdry

Warm and humid; muggy

Distasteful or offensive; tasteless

(Informal) Painful or difficult

Flimsy, rundown, or in poor repair

(Economics) Tending to remain the same despite changes in the economy. Used of prices or wages.

Of a substance, slightly sticky.

Of or relating to an item of software or hardware, such as an onscreen graphic or mouse button, that remains active for a brief time after being touched

(colloquial) Of low quality.

Of or relating to content designed to increase the duration of visits to a website.

(colloquial) In poor taste.

Able or likely to adhere via the drying of a viscous substance.

Gaudy or flashy.

Potentially difficult to escape from.

Shabby, dowdy in one's appearance or dress.

Of weather, hot and windless and with high humidity, so that people feel sticky from sweating.

Sticky; adhesive; raw; - said of paint, varnish, etc., when not well dried.

(finance) Tending to stay the same; resistant to change.

Dowdy, shabby, or neglected in appearance; unkempt.

Persistent.

In poor taste; appearing cheap; gaudy; unstylish. Broadly used to describe objects whose style is disapproved of by the speaker.

Appearing on all virtual desktops.

Tactless; in poor taste; - used to describe behavior.

Fixed at the top of the list of topics or threads so as to keep it in view.

An ill-conditioned, ill-fed, or neglected horse; also, a person in a like condition.

Compelling enough to keep visitors from leaving.

(of a glutinous liquid such as paint) not completely dried and slightly sticky to the touch;

(informal) Resembling or characteristic of a stick. en

Tastelessly showy;

A sticky note, such as a post-it note.

(internet) A discussion thread fixed at the top of the list of topics or threads so as to keep it in view.

(manufacturing) A small adhesive particle found in wastepaper.

A sweet dessert wine.

To fix a thread at the top of the list of topics or threads so as to keep it in view.

Having the quality of sticking to a surface; adhesive; gluey; viscous; viscid; glutinous; tenacious.

Having the properties of glue

Moist as with undried perspiration and with clothing sticking to the body;

Hot or warm and humid;

Hard to deal with; especially causing pain or embarrassment;