Meanings
comparative more viscous · superlative most viscous
- Having a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid (that is, a high viscosity).
1 more example
[…] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew.
2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, page 7]”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 23 Dec 2014Synonyms: syrupy, viscid, viscose, thickflowing · Antonyms: inviscid
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveHaving a thick, sticky consistency between solid and liquid (that is, a high viscosity).
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehaving the sticky properties of an adhesive
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinviscum“birdlime”
- Late Latinviscōsus
- Middle Frenchvisqueux
- Englishviscous
First attested in 1605. Borrowed from Middle French visqueux and Late Latin viscōsus, from Latin viscum (“birdlime”). Doublet of viscose.
More words from Middle French, Late Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic لَزِج
- لَزِج (lazij)having a thick, sticky consistency
Bulgarian вискозен
- вискозен (viskozen)having a thick, sticky consistency
Catalan viscós
- viscóshaving a thick, sticky consistency
Chinese Mandarin 黏的, 黏稠的
- 黏的having a thick, sticky consistency
- 黏稠的having a thick, sticky consistency
Czech vazký, viskózní
- vazkýhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- viskózníhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- hustýhaving a thick, sticky consistency
Danish viskøs
- viskøshaving a thick, sticky consistency
Dutch viskeus, dik
- viskeushaving a thick, sticky consistency
- dikhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- lobbighaving a thick, sticky consistency
- dikvloeibaarhaving a thick, sticky consistency
Finnish sakea, sitkeä
- sakeahaving a thick, sticky consistency
- sitkeähaving a thick, sticky consistency
- tahmeahaving a thick, sticky consistency
- viskoottinenhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- viskoosinenhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- viskoosihaving a thick, sticky consistency
French visqueux
- visqueuxhaving a thick, sticky consistency
German zähflüssig, viskos
- zähflüssighaving a thick, sticky consistency
- viskoshaving a thick, sticky consistency
- dickflüssighaving a thick, sticky consistency
Greek ιξώδης
- ιξώδης (ixódis)having a thick, sticky consistency
Hindi श्यान
- श्यान (śyān)having a thick, sticky consistency
Hungarian viszkózus
- viszkózushaving a thick, sticky consistency
Indonesian kental
- kentalhaving a thick, sticky consistency
Italian viscoso, vischioso
- viscosohaving a thick, sticky consistency
- vischiosohaving a thick, sticky consistency
Japanese 粘性の
- 粘性の (nensei no)having a thick, sticky consistency
Malay likat ليکت, lekat لکت
- likat ليکتhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- lekat لکتhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- pekathaving a thick, sticky consistency
- ڤکتhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- kentalhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- کنتلhaving a thick, sticky consistency
Māori ware, tataki
- warehaving a thick, sticky consistency
- tatakihaving a thick, sticky consistency
Persian لَزِج, چَشبنَاک
- لَزِجhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- چَشبنَاکhaving a thick, sticky consistency
Polish lepki, kleisty
- lepkihaving a thick, sticky consistency
- kleistyhaving a thick, sticky consistency
Portuguese viscoso
- viscosohaving a thick, sticky consistency
Romanian vâscos, cleios
- vâscoshaving a thick, sticky consistency
- cleioshaving a thick, sticky consistency
Russian вя́зкий, густо́й
- вя́зкий (vjázkij)having a thick, sticky consistency
- густо́й (gustój)having a thick, sticky consistency
- ли́пкий (lípkij)having a thick, sticky consistency
- кле́йкий (kléjkij)having a thick, sticky consistency
Slovak viskózny, hustý
- viskóznyhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- hustýhaving a thick, sticky consistency
- väzkýhaving a thick, sticky consistency
Spanish viscoso, alastoso
- viscosohaving a thick, sticky consistency
- alastosohaving a thick, sticky consistency
- alastehaving a thick, sticky consistency
Swedish trögflytande, viskös
- trögflytandehaving a thick, sticky consistency
- visköshaving a thick, sticky consistency
- grötighaving a thick, sticky consistency
Tagalog malapuyot
- malapuyothaving a thick, sticky consistency
Ukrainian в'язки́й
- в'язки́й (vʺjazkýj)having a thick, sticky consistency
Vietnamese sệt, đặc
- sệthaving a thick, sticky consistency
- đặchaving a thick, sticky consistency
Welsh gludiog, trioglyd
- gludioghaving a thick, sticky consistency
- trioglydhaving a thick, sticky consistency
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with viscous
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
viscous. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viscous
“viscous.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viscous. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “viscous,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viscous.
Source: viscous on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.