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
  • The Portland Trail Blazers fired new play-by-play television broadcaster Braiden Bell on Thursday when past inappropriate social media posts resurfaced just hours after the team announced his hiring.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026
  • Sheriff’s officials said, investigators as of Thursday had not uncovered evidence indicating Chen had inappropriate physical contact with a child.
    — Rosalio Ahumada, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of inappropriate
Adjective
  • But the stage that Springer cultivated was a gleeful one, a tacky spectacle of shock and depravity, an ungodly home for the freaks who knew just what to do when the lights came on.
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
  • South Africa also included two specialist spinner Bjorn Fortuin and Keshav Maharaj with the tacky wicket expected to suit slow bowlers later in the game.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of tacky
Adjective
  • 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
  • Lamb’s success, says Ink, ushered in the era of sensationalism, trashy gossip, misinformation, influencers, and Trump.
    — Joe Reid, Vulture, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of trashy
Adjective
  • And the religious character of this language is by no means unsuitable to this project of science that was bathed in biblical metaphors from the get-go—Code name Trinity, to cite just one example.
    — Artforum, Artforum, 28 Sep. 2026
  • Like other foods, bird seed is perishable and will spoil if it’s kept in unsuitable conditions.
    — Madeline Buiano, Martha Stewart, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of unsuitable
Adjective
  • That can include circumstances outside the property holder’s control or if the Controller’s Office gave them incorrect information.
    — Stephen Hobbs, Sacbee.com, 4 Oct. 2026
  • The company says its services can produce incorrect or incomplete information.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 3 Oct. 2026
Definition of incorrect
Adjective
  • Kathryn Bigelow is one of our best action directors, even if this one is a bit cheesier than her best work.
    — Brian Tallerico, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026
  • The visual effects are chintzy, Jackson’s performance is schticky, and even if Aleem’s script is cheesy, Harlin’s execution of it doesn’t elevate the material.
    — Katie Walsh, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of cheesy
Adjective
  • British police acknowledged applying for the warrants under the wrong statutory provision, the judge said while stipulating that the misconduct investigation against the king's brother could continue.
    — Steve Hendrix, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Doctors in Tennessee and Republican state senators called for the state to pause executions, because the chances of one going catastrophically wrong were so high.
    — Maya Foa, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of wrong
Adjective
  • The very characteristics that made blue-collar businesses unfashionable, their physicality and labor intensity, are now their defensive moat.
    — Gustaf Lundberg Toresson, Forbes.com, 6 Aug. 2026
  • As one Ithacan subject fondly recalls, Odysseus always had an unfashionable belief in playing fair.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 17 July 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 9 Oct. 2026.

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