1
: having a thick or sticky consistency : viscid
viscous secretions
viscous corn syrup
2
technical
: having or characterized by a high resistance to flow
viscous lava
viscously
adverb
viscousness
noun
Examples of viscous in a Sentence
viscous syrup that takes forever to pour from a narrow-neck bottle
Recent Examples on the Web
As the album moves through questions of existence and crazed desire, Gustaf break skin with their viscous zigzagging.
—
Margaret Farrell, SPIN, 4 Apr. 2024
With a viscous, pillowy feel to it, the serum’s texture lands somewhere between a traditional serum and a gel, delivering immediate, deep nourishment to the skin on contact.
—Danielle Cohen, Glamour, 3 Apr. 2024
In recent decades, the world’s appetite for the viscous red oil has exploded.
—Patricia Cohen Jes Aznar, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
The thick gravy will drown out any char on the fat rice noodles and engulf the vegetables in its viscous depths.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
This is where the offspring excitedly compete to nibble a white, viscous liquid from the mother’s cloaca, placing their heads almost inside it.
—Sofia Quaglia, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Moreover, most of the complex parts in a car that require viscous fluids do not exist in a BEV, i.e., no engine or transmission to worry about.
—Robin Warner, Ars Technica, 5 Dec. 2023
The vodka should be of premium quality and to give the cocktail a velvety, viscous quality, use vodka that’s been stored in the freezer until preparation.
—Jillian Dara, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
The temperature hovered above freezing — nearly balmy by end-of-year Midwestern standards, when football games were often played on fields that had turned to viscous soup or had frozen solid as a sidewalk.
—Bill Morris, Detroit Free Press, 28 Jan. 2024
Margaret Farrell, SPIN, 4 Apr. 2024
With a viscous, pillowy feel to it, the serum’s texture lands somewhere between a traditional serum and a gel, delivering immediate, deep nourishment to the skin on contact.
—Danielle Cohen, Glamour, 3 Apr. 2024
In recent decades, the world’s appetite for the viscous red oil has exploded.
—Patricia Cohen Jes Aznar, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
The thick gravy will drown out any char on the fat rice noodles and engulf the vegetables in its viscous depths.
—Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
This is where the offspring excitedly compete to nibble a white, viscous liquid from the mother’s cloaca, placing their heads almost inside it.
—Sofia Quaglia, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2024
Moreover, most of the complex parts in a car that require viscous fluids do not exist in a BEV, i.e., no engine or transmission to worry about.
—Robin Warner, Ars Technica, 5 Dec. 2023
The vodka should be of premium quality and to give the cocktail a velvety, viscous quality, use vodka that’s been stored in the freezer until preparation.
—Jillian Dara, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
The temperature hovered above freezing — nearly balmy by end-of-year Midwestern standards, when football games were often played on fields that had turned to viscous soup or had frozen solid as a sidewalk.
—Bill Morris, Detroit Free Press, 28 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'viscous.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to viscous
Dictionary Entries Near viscous
Cite this Entry
“Viscous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/viscous. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
viscous
adjective
vis·cous
ˈvis-kəs 
1
: having the characteristic of stickiness
2
: having or marked by viscosity
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share