Tricky means awkward and needing care. A tricky question, a tricky bit, this is tricky.
It is British understatement: a tricky situation is usually a serious one, and a tricky question is one nobody wants to answer. It describes difficulty that comes from delicacy rather than from effort — a heavy box is hard and a wobbly ladder is tricky. Of a person, tricky means devious, which is the older sense. Note trick, and tricksy; and that tricky is one of the most-used words in British engineering and politics alike.
1adjectivetrickyAwkward and needing care.
“The last four feet are tricky and the rest is easy.”
2adjectivedeviousDevious, of a person.
“Be careful with him; he's a tricky customer who'll cheat you if he can.”
tricky is a quality of awkwardness.
From trick + -y.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA
Practised in Everyday Adjectives