Etymology

tacky

T1A1C3K5Y4

Today it means: Of a substance, slightly sticky. Full definition →

Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

tacky · adjective1

From tack + -y.

tacky · adjective, noun2

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.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.