ick
nounEtymology Back-formation from icky.
1
Informal Something distasteful or physically unpleasant to touch.
- Like it wasn't bad enough that I was soaked to the bone, now I had to lug an ick covered designer original across a puddle filled runway.2011, J. Morgan, Southern Werewolf Chronicles Book Two: Were the Moon Don't Shine:
- The UN, for its part, has suggested eating insects as a way of feeding those extra mouths, which may put the frankenmeat ick factor in perspective.2013 August 6, John Michael McGrath, “The Frankenmeat of the Future”, in Hazlitt, archived from the original on 18 Mar 2025:
1 more example
- Did you get ick all over my things? Should I walk myself through a car wash on the way home?2015, Chris Lynch, Killing Time in Crystal City, page 182:
2
Informal A feeling of revulsion.
- to have the ick
- And I was nodding, "Uh-huh," trying not to have an ick attack, worrying, Is my face giving something away?1999 March 30, judy wieder, “Steve Kmetko's true hollywood story”, in The Advocate, page 36:
4 more examples
- I wish none of this bothered me, but I feel this ick about Burnham and it isn't going away.2017, Caragh M. O'Brien, The Keep of Ages, page 36:
- She'd woken up today with a general ick about doing this job, but every time she considered canceling and giving Hailey her money back, she couldn't do it.2018, NJ Damschroder, Manifest Destiny:
- And as sad as that can be, we can't fake our feelings – if you've got the ick, you've got the ick.2022, Anna Williamson, Where is the Love?: The Honest Guide to Dating and Relationships:
- “People use dating apps, but I don’t know anyone who pays for it,” Ms. Wang said. In fact, she said that she would consider it an “ick” if she learned somebody was paying for a subscription.2024 March 12, J. Edward Moreno, quoting Kathryn D. Coduto, “Dating Apps Have Hit a Wall. Can They Turn Things Around?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2024:
3
Slang Anything moaned about; a gripe.
- How can you stand such an ick ?1963, Thomas A. Erhard, The Electronovac Gasser: A Farce in Three Acts, page 45:
- Of course, the idea of drinking blood is a total ick right now, but I suppose once you—2009, Mary-Janice Davidson, Nina Bangs, Janelle Denison, Surf's Up:
3 more examples
- For the umpteenth time that day one of my fellow men regarded me with scorn. “You're so icky. Such an ick.”2012, Doris Piserchia, The Dimensioneers:
- I keep thinking back to last Valentine's Day—I was such an ick—and you sent me that card.2013, Tara Taylor Quinn, It Happened on Maple Street:
- The thought of him and his obsessive begging for sex gave me a predatory vibe and was a total ick.2022, Jamila Coleman, Surviving Seventeen… And The Years Leading Up To It, page 159: