Most Italian adjectives have more than just one possible meaning and some of them can be used in completely different contexts and situations.
Appiccicoso (the stress is on the first ‘o’, as you can hear in this example) happens to fall under that category.
The word comes from the verb appiccicare, which means ‘to stick, paste or glue’.
So in its primary meaning it is used to refer to anything that in English we may describe as ‘sticky’ or ‘gluey’.
Il miele è una sostanza appiccicosa.
Honey is a sticky substance.
But appiccicoso has two other meanings that are both very common in daily conversations.
Firstly, it is frequently used during Italy’s summer months to describe that very unpleasant situation when your whole body is covered in sweat, making you clammy to the touch.
This is a sentence you’re likely to hear a lot in Italy when temperatures soar above the 30C mark:
Qua si muore dal caldo! Sono tutto appiccicoso.
It’s boiling here! I’m all clammy.
When used this way, appiccicoso can also describe very hot and humid weather.
Oggi è una giornata calda e appiccicosa.
Today’s a very hot and sticky day.
But the adjective has also another possible meaning, which has nothing to do with ‘sticky' weather.
If your partner is overly attached to you (either physically or emotionally) or tends to depend on you for pretty much anything going on in their lives, you could label them as appiccicoso (for men) or appiccicosa (for women).
In other words, you’d be accusing them of being ‘clingy’.
Mi stai sempre attorno. Vedi che sei appiccicoso?
You’re always around me. Can you not see you’re being clingy?
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