ticky-tacky

adjective

variants also ticky-tack
Definition of ticky-tackynext
as in inappropriate
marked by an obvious lack of style or good taste her house is full of ticky-tacky figurines

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for ticky-tacky
  1. inappropriate
  2. tacky
  3. trashy
  4. unsuitable
  5. incorrect
  6. cheesy
  7. wrong
  8. unfashionable
Adjective
  • Her colleagues voted twice last year to censure her for inappropriate criticism of city employees.
    — Alene Tchekmedyian, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Specifically, Pickard said his understanding of the immunity deal is that his testimony about adultery and an inappropriate relationship cannot be used against him as part of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
    — Matt Schooley, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of inappropriate
Adjective
  • The springy, Pepto pink jelly spreads easily on the skin and sinks in instantly, so no sticky or tacky feel.
    — Alanna Martine Kilkeary, Glamour, 26 Oct. 2026
  • As all women know, the more sparkle, the better (without straying into tacky territory, that is).
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of tacky
Adjective
  • That’s already more standout performances than in the entire run of films, a reminder that working with trashy IP is a safer bet than attempting to embellish a classic.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2026
  • And indeed, the show was teased with a trashy image—a picture of a New York City street lined with waste during the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike, that is.
    — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of trashy
Adjective
  • At one unsuitable Gramercy apartment, Taylor encountered Cam Armand, a salesperson on the Kota team at Compass, and the Folwells enlisted his help.
    — Joyce Cohen, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In a setting designed to make exceptional yachts desirable, explaining why a particular vessel is unsuitable requires commercial discipline.
    — Christoph Lymbersky, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of unsuitable
Adjective
  • Use safer payment methods When shopping online, paying with a credit card generally gives you stronger protections if an order never arrives or a charge is incorrect.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026
  • The figures represent requests for financial assistance, not necessarily complaints about incorrect water bills.
    — Jamal Goss, CBS News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of incorrect
Adjective
  • Under his purview, the brand has had to execute a tricky dance—to be sexy without being prurient, playful without being cheesy, desirable without being condescending.
    — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 19 Oct. 2026
  • Adding mozzarella and Parmesan creates a salty, extra cheesy base while tomato sauce balances the richness with some acidity.
    — Kimberly Holland, Southern Living, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of cheesy
Adjective
  • Without it, the language model is a very expensive way to write faster emails to the wrong people.
    — Stephen Messer, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Those chats tended to include what was going right or wrong or could be better.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of wrong
Adjective
  • Chemically straightened Afro hairstyles had gone from being the default to increasingly unfashionable.
    — Ata-owaji Victor, Vogue, 13 Oct. 2026
  • The dressing room—with its old Persian rug and deeply unfashionable mahogany desk—is just wrong enough to be, well, cool.
    — Plum Sykes, Architectural Digest, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of unfashionable
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

ticks off
ticky-tacky
tics
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Cite this Entry

“Ticky-tacky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ticky-tacky. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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