⏳ To delay 🛢️ Like tar

tarry

1 7.9

Covered with a thick, sticky black material used on roads

adjective
/ˈtɛri/

: betunoso

She noticed the tarry surface of the old roof, indicating it needed repair.
black tarry

Examples

Expectant parents often wonder if meconium (the dark, tarry poop that babies have during their first few days after birth) will stain their diapers.

Blog text (32)
The path was so tarry that it stuck to my shoes with every step.
"I cried, frustrated that the ground grew tarry with each step."

Fiction book (1994)
As you just watch, something comes out of that tarry material and slowly these little vesicles have formed.
After the rain, the streets were covered in a tarry residue that made them slippery.

Synonyms

resinous

vstarry

1 7.3

Has a sticky, slightly oily feel and a strong pine smell

focuses on tar or pitch-like features rather than general resin quality

pitchy

vstarry

7.7

Thick and sticky like tar

means the same physical tar or pitch characteristics

resiny

vstarry

6.8

Smelling and feeling sticky like pine sap

emphasizes resemblance to tar or pitch rather than resin smell

tarpapered

vstarry

8.7

Cheap, poorly built homes that look covered with tar paper

describes physical tar or pitch properties, not cheap construction or covering

How Sticky

pitchy

7.7

tarry

1 7.9

sticky

126 1.0

slimy

42 2.5

tacky

Specialized

4 4.9

Surface Forms

tarry positive

tarrier comparative

tarriest superlative

Morphology

tarry = tar (transparent) = tar + y

The adjective is directly formed from the noun 'tar' with the common suffix '-y', meaning 'like tar' or 'full of tar'.

Etymology

Tarry as an adjective comes from the simple word tar, the sticky black substance used on roads and roofs. So tarry means 'like tar', often sticky, dark, or with a strong tar smell.