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Viscid vs Sticky - What's the difference?

viscid | sticky |

As adjectives the difference between viscid and sticky

is that viscid is viscous; having a high viscosity while sticky is able or likely to stick.

As a noun sticky is

a sticky note, such as a post-it note.

As a verb sticky is

(internet|bulletin boards) to fix a thread at the top of the list of topics or threads so as to keep it in view.

viscid

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Viscous; having a high viscosity.
  • Sticky, slimy, or glutinous.
  • * 1906 , O. Henry,
    • They trod noiselessly upon a stair carpet that its own loom would have forsworn. It seemed to have become vegetable; to have degenerated in that rank, sunless air to lush lichen or spreading moss that grew in patches to the staircase and was viscid under the foot like organic matter.
  • Covered with a viscid layer.

    • Usage notes

    In everyday usage, much less common than (viscous), with which it is roughly interchangeable. In careful usage, (term) is more often used for fluid flow, like honey, while viscid is used for a squishy, slimy feel of more solid substances, like mayonnaise.

    Synonyms

    * viscous

    Antonyms

    * inviscid

    Derived terms

    * viscidity * viscidly * viscidness

    References

    * Google define * Merriam-Webster

    sticky

    English

    Adjective

    (er)
  • Able or likely to stick.
    • Is this tape sticky enough to stay on that surface?
  • Potentially difficult to escape from.
    • This is a sticky situation. We could be in this for weeks if we're not careful.
  • * 2014 , Michael White, " Roll up, roll up! The Amazing Salmond will show a Scotland you won't believe", The Guardian , 8 September 2014:
    • Salmond studied medieval Scottish history as well as economics at university so he cannot say he has not had fair warning – it was even more turbulent and bloody than England at that time – and plenty of Scotland's kings and leaders came to a sticky end.
  • (computing, informal, of a setting) Persistent.
    • We should make the printing direction sticky so the user doesn't have to keep setting it.
  • (computing, of a window) Appearing on all virtual desktops.
  • (Internet, of threads on a bulletin board) Fixed at the top of the list of topics or threads so as to keep it in view.
  • (Internet, of a website) Compelling enough to keep visitors from leaving.
    • A woman has come to me with the complaint that her website is not "sticky" - 70% of the visits last 30 seconds or less.
  • Of weather, hot and windless and with high humidity, so that people feel sticky from sweating.

    • Derived terms

    * stickily * stickiness * sticky-backed plastic * sticky bit * sticky fingers * sticky wicket * sticky note

    See also

    * tacky

    Noun

    (stickies)
  • A sticky note, such as a post-it note.
    • Her desk is covered with yellow stickies .
  • (manufacturing) A small adhesive particle found in wastepaper.
  • A sweet dessert wine.

    • Verb

  • (Internet, bulletin boards) to fix a thread at the top of the list of topics or threads so as to keep it in view.