ick

Interjection

ick

1. An exclamation of disgust

   Lizzie grabbed a frog out of the lake and put it in her hair! Ick!

   • 2014, Vicki Robin, Blessing the Hands That Feed Us: Lessons from a 10-Mile Diet:

     An aside for those who think “ick” about goat milk: If there are no billy goats around to arouse those sex hormones, goat milk does not taste “goat-y.

Noun

ick (plural not attested)

1. (informal, uncountable) Something distasteful or physically unpleasant to touch.
   • 2011, J. Morgan, Southern Werewolf Chronicles Book Two: Were the Moon Don't Shine:

     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.

   • 2015, Chris Lynch, Killing Time in Crystal City, page 182:

     Did you get ick all over my things? Should I walk myself through a car wash on the way home?

2. (informal) A feeling of revulsion.

   to have the ick

   • 1999 March 30, judy wieder, “Steve Kmetko's true hollywood story”, in The Advocate, page 36:

     And I was nodding, "Uh-huh," trying not to have an ick attack, worrying, Is my face giving something away?

   • 2017, Caragh M. O'Brien, The Keep of Ages, page 36:

     I wish none of this bothered me, but I feel this ick about Burnham and it isn't going away.

   • 2018, NJ Damschroder, Manifest Destiny:

     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.

   • 2022, Anna Williamson, Where is the Love?: The Honest Guide to Dating and Relationships:

     And as sad as that can be, we can't fake our feelings – if you've got the ick, you've got the ick.

   • 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:

     “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.

3. (slang) Anything moaned about; a gripe.
   • 1963, Thomas A. Erhard, The Electronovac Gasser: A Farce in Three Acts, page 45:

     How can you stand such an ick ?

   • 2009, Mary-Janice Davidson, Nina Bangs, Janelle Denison, Surf's Up:

     Of course, the idea of drinking blood is a total ick right now, but I suppose once you—

   • 2012, Doris Piserchia, The Dimensioneers:

     For the umpteenth time that day one of my fellow men regarded me with scorn. “You're so icky. Such an ick.”

   • 2013, Tara Taylor Quinn, It Happened on Maple Street:

     I keep thinking back to last Valentine's Day—I was such an ick—and you sent me that card.

   • 2022, Jamila Coleman, Surviving Seventeen… And The Years Leading Up To It, page 159:

     The thought of him and his obsessive begging for sex gave me a predatory vibe and was a total ick.

Adjective

ick

1. (informal) icky; distasteful or unpleasant.
   • 2012, Sue Moorcroft, Dream a Little Dream:

     'It's a bit ick, to be honest, but Rochelle thought it would be funny. Last year we did dragon's diarrhoea, with Tia Maria and chocolate Angel Delight, but nobody would touch it.'

   • 2015, Candy J Starr, Bad Boy Rock Star: The Complete Story:

     He thought she would be an embarrassment. That kind of made me feel a bit ick.

   • 2021, Jacqueline Firkins, How Not to Fall in Love, page 201:

     There's nothing “ick” about him, but I'm not sure how to say that without sounding like I'm reciting lines from that terrible bodice ripper I took on Theo's practice date.

Derived terms

• ick factor

Noun

ick (uncountable)

1. Alternative form of ich (“fish disease”)