trickier; trickiest
1
: inclined to or marked by trickery
2
a
: giving a deceptive impression of easiness, simplicity, or order : ticklish
a tricky path through the swamp
b
Synonyms
Examples of tricky in a Sentence
The lock is tricky to open.
a tricky musical passage for the woodwind section
Recent Examples on the Web
Still, it’s been tricky for the company to distance itself from past ties to Lynch entirely.
—
Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 26 Apr. 2024
Breaking news can be tricky to cover, but CNN and MSNBC did a good job of it.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 24 Apr. 2024
Doing business with family can be tricky, but doing business with anyone who is dishonest is not a good idea.
—Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024
Combining these factors in a systematic way is tricky.
—Lyndie Chiou, WIRED, 21 Apr. 2024
Prosecuting Arthur Andersen for shredding the Enron documents had been surprisingly tricky.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2024
Even so, the approaches Democratic lawmakers have used to connect with voters in these districts may provide a road map for Biden to navigate similarly tricky areas in 2024.
—Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024
Taking the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a bold new visual direction has worked out phenomenally for Paramount in the past, but the studio’s next experiment with the characters feels like something that’s going to be tricky as hell to pull off well.
—Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 11 Apr. 2024
The show’s tone strikes a tricky balance between political satire and outright tragedy, and the Captain is the character most responsible for pulling it off.
—Brandon Yu, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Prarthana Prakash, Fortune Europe, 26 Apr. 2024
Breaking news can be tricky to cover, but CNN and MSNBC did a good job of it.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 24 Apr. 2024
Doing business with family can be tricky, but doing business with anyone who is dishonest is not a good idea.
—Harriette Cole, The Mercury News, 22 Apr. 2024
Combining these factors in a systematic way is tricky.
—Lyndie Chiou, WIRED, 21 Apr. 2024
Prosecuting Arthur Andersen for shredding the Enron documents had been surprisingly tricky.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 17 Apr. 2024
Even so, the approaches Democratic lawmakers have used to connect with voters in these districts may provide a road map for Biden to navigate similarly tricky areas in 2024.
—Karissa Waddick, USA TODAY, 16 Apr. 2024
Taking the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in a bold new visual direction has worked out phenomenally for Paramount in the past, but the studio’s next experiment with the characters feels like something that’s going to be tricky as hell to pull off well.
—Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge, 11 Apr. 2024
The show’s tone strikes a tricky balance between political satire and outright tragedy, and the Captain is the character most responsible for pulling it off.
—Brandon Yu, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tricky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near tricky
Cite this Entry
“Tricky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tricky. Accessed 30 Apr. 2024.
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