I. ˈtakē, -ki adjective
( -er/-est )
Etymology: tack (II) + -y
: barely sticky to the touch : adhesive: as
a. : having a quality of adhering, clinging, or binding
tacky varnish
tacky ink
keeps rubber rollers and blankets tacky — Graphic Arts Monthly
b. : characterized by tack
II. noun
( -es )
chiefly Britain : sneaker , tennis shoe — usually used in plural
III. noun
( -es )
Etymology: origin unknown
1. chiefly South : a small pony or inferior horse
2. chiefly South : an inferior or low-class person : poor white
the ditch-edge child of some sharecropping sandhill tacky — William Humphrey
IV. adjective
( -er/-est )
1.
a. : having the characteristics of or suitable for a low-class person : common
a poor-white and untidy person … he in short, was tacky — J.B.Cabell
stigmatized as tacky — A.P.Hudson
b. : marked by shabbiness or signs of neglect : down-at-heel , seedy
the neighborhood was really getting very tacky — Walter Karig
a tacky boardinghouse — New Yorker
2.
a. : marked by lack of style or good taste : ridiculously unbecoming : outmoded , dowdy
tacky knitted garments modeled on dumpy hausfrau types — Newsweek
that pasty fat girl with those tacky pigtails — Carson McCullers
looked God-awful tacky for a woman who was supposed to be a good designer — Hollis Alpert
b. : marked by cheap showiness : flashy , gaudy
a tacky costume
sumptuously tacky countess who inhabits a cellar — Time