Meanings
comparative trickier · superlative trickiest
- Hard to deal with, complicated.
They were in a tricky situation.
4 more examples
Several types of diesel locomotive have been tested on this working and as a result the probable choice will be Type 2 diesels in pairs, without bankers. The crucial factor in the selection of this method is the higher degree of adhesion obtained than with a single Type 4; on trial one of the latter showed that in very adverse conditions it might slip to a standstill at one of the two tricky spots on the steep climb from Tyne Dock to Consett.
1964 September, “News: Fewer diesels for NER in 1965”, in Modern Railways, page 201"The trickiest we ever get," he continued, "is in the short-answer questions like, 'Why do you want to come to the University of Chicago?' or, 'What books have you read?'
1995 December 27, William H. Honan, “Personal Essay Questions: Turning Torture Into Fun”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2022That will prove a trickier test, the management having pinpointed Oleh Blokhin's side as "one of the favourites in the group", though they will confront an England team buoyed by this battering.
2012 September 7, Dominic Fifield, “England start World Cup campaign with five-goal romp against Moldova”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 05 Nov 2022It was as comfortable an afternoon as Arsène Wenger could have wished for in a situation that can be tricky in between internationals and the upcoming Champions League.
2012 September 15, Amy Lawrence, “Arsenal's Gervinho enjoys the joy of six against lowly Southampton”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 07 Apr 2023Synonyms: catchy
- colloquialslangRelating to or associated with a prostitution trick.
I don't want any of your tricky money, thank you!
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHard to deal with, complicated.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivenot to be trusted
adjectivemarked by skill in deception
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian труден, сложен
- труден (truden)hard to deal with
- сложен (složen)hard to deal with
- мошенически (mošeničeski)adept at using deception
Chinese Mandarin 麻烦
- 麻烦 (máfan)hard to deal with
Dutch netelig, netelige
- netelighard to deal with
- neteligehard to deal with
- listigadept at using deception
- listigeadept at using deception
Estonian keeruline, täbar
- keerulinehard to deal with
- täbarhard to deal with
- kavaladept at using deception
- petlikadept at using deception
Finnish hankala, tukala
- hankalahard to deal with
- tukalahard to deal with
- ovelaadept at using deception
- juonikasadept at using deception
- tukalaadept at using deception
French épineux, compliqué
- épineuxhard to deal with
- compliquéhard to deal with
- complexehard to deal with
- délicathard to deal with
- ruséadept at using deception
- malinadept at using deception
- retorsadept at using deception
German schwierig, heikel
- schwierighard to deal with
- heikelhard to deal with
- gerissenadept at using deception
Greek περίπλοκος, μπερδεμένος
- περίπλοκος (períplokos)hard to deal with
- μπερδεμένος (berdeménos)hard to deal with
- δυσνόητος (dysnóitos)adept at using deception
Hebrew טְרִיקִי
- טְרִיקִיhard to deal with
Hungarian nehéz, fogas
- nehézhard to deal with
- fogashard to deal with
- fogóshard to deal with
- húzóshard to deal with
- ravaszadept at using deception
- cselesadept at using deception
- trükkösadept at using deception
- fifikásadept at using deception
- ördöngösadept at using deception
- dörzsöltadept at using deception
- furfangosadept at using deception
- agyafúrtadept at using deception
Irish cleasach
- cleasachadept at using deception
Italian insidioso, ingannevole
- insidiosohard to deal with
- ingannevolehard to deal with
- pericolosohard to deal with
Japanese 狡猾な
- 狡猾な (kōkatsu na)adept at using deception
Latin dolōsus
- dolōsusadept at using deception
Polish podchwytliwy
- podchwytliwyhard to deal with
Portuguese complicado, truqueiro
- complicadohard to deal with
- truqueiroadept at using deception
Russian каверзны́й, щекотли́вый
- каверзны́й (kaverznýj)hard to deal with
- щекотли́вый (ščekotlívyj)hard to deal with
- проны́рливый (pronýrlivyj)adept at using deception
- ло́вкий (lóvkij)adept at using deception
- оборо́тистый (oborótistyj)adept at using deception
Spanish dificultoso, chungo
- dificultosohard to deal with
- chungohard to deal with
- se las traehard to deal with
- tener su intríngulishard to deal with
- enredosohard to deal with
- pantanosohard to deal with
- camotudohard to deal with
- yucahard to deal with
- engorrosohard to deal with
- brígidohard to deal with
- facilillohard to deal with
- trancahard to deal with
Swedish knepig, meckig
- knepighard to deal with
- meckighard to deal with
- lurigadept at using deception
- listigadept at using deception
- knepigadept at using deception
Turkish güç, zor
- güçhard to deal with
- zorhard to deal with
- aldatıcıadept at using deception
- kurnazadept at using deception
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tricky
Cite this entry
tricky. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tricky
“tricky.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tricky. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tricky,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tricky.
Source: tricky on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.