Viscid

Origin

From Late Latin viscidus, from viscum ‘birdlime’.

Full definition of viscid

Adjective

1. Viscous; having a high viscosity.
2. 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.
3. Covered with a viscid layer.

Usage notes

In everyday usage, much less common than viscous, with which it is roughly interchangeable. In careful usage, viscous 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