sticker

A sticker is usually a small piece of paper, plastic, or vinyl with glue on one side, so you can attach it to a surface. You see them on laptops, water bottles, school books, packages, and shop items. Sometimes they are just for fun, with bright colors or pictures. Sometimes they give information, like a name, a logo, or a price. In everyday English, the word also appears in phrases such as "sticker price," which means the listed price of something, especially a car.

The word comes from "stick," so the basic idea is simple: it stays attached to something. That clear, physical meaning is the one most learners will meet most often.

Most people first learn the word "sticker" as something small that you peel and press onto another surface. It may be colorful and playful, like the star a teacher gives a child, or practical, like the label on a piece of fruit or a package in the mail. You can decorate a notebook with stickers, put one on a car window, or read one on a product in a store. In all of these cases, the idea is the same: it is something made to stick.

The word is also common in shopping and sales. The phrase "sticker price" means the price shown on the item, especially a car, before any discount or negotiation. From that comes "sticker shock," the feeling of surprise when the price seems very high. These expressions are common in everyday English, so they are worth knowing even if the main meaning of the word is still the physical label itself.

There are a few older or less common uses too. In some contexts, "sticker" can describe something sharp or prickly that catches on you, or, more loosely, a person who holds firmly to something. Still, those meanings are much less common today. For most learners, the safest and most useful meaning is the simple one: a small sticky label or decoration that is attached to a surface.