cuddly
Americanadjective
-
cuddlier,
comparative
-
cuddliest
superlative
Other Word Forms
Adjective Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cuddly
Explanation
Something (or someone) that's soft, snuggly, and huggable is cuddly. Your pet rabbit is so cuddly that you wish you could bring her to school, so you'd be able to hold and hug her all day long. Some people are naturally cuddly, either because they love to hug you, or because they're particularly plump and comfortable. The same is true for animals and dolls — there are some things that seem to be made for cuddling. Cuddly comes from the adorable word cuddle, which probably stems from the obsolete verb cull, "to embrace," or possibly the Middle English couth, "known" or "comfortable with."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These little fellas represent a departure from all of that: cuddly digital pals whose highest calling is to help you reclaim some of your time.
From Slate ● Oct. 14, 2026
Leveraging cuteness to sell products isn’t exactly a new phenomenon — just ask the toy industry, which thrives on getting kids and young adults invested in collecting new cute or cuddly products.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026
AI companies are trying a new charm offensive: using characters that look like cuddly stuffed animals to potentially make their technology feel a little less scary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026
“She was a bright, cuddly, sparkly person,” Leffler said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
No one could call him pudgy or cuddly any more.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
Seuss’ Grinch sits somewhere in the middle — cuddlier than Krampus and pricklier than Santa — making him the perfect avatar for a moody, uncertain age.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 25, 2025
Today’s Bush is a cuddlier figure, who, we are told, likes to putter around his art studio, painting pictures of dogs and American flags.
From New York Times ● Jun. 8, 2022
This is an elegant fix that allows the public to consume real-time audio with the added benefit of felt creatures that will be far cuddlier than Sean Spicer and Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
From Slate ● Jun. 30, 2017
But the devotional words today go to a cuddlier, pudgier lover of show tunes who speaks not in the cadences of Upper Manhattan but of Greater London.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 13, 2016
Elsie was sweet as honey and cuddlier than a kitten.
From Bloom of Cactus by Ralph P. (Ralph Pallen) Coleman
So that’s the mechanism that could explain a precipitous drop in how long your cuddliest family member could live.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2023
"She's not the cuddliest person in the world, but it's just a different show now and she's making it her own," the programme's maths guru Rachel Riley told Lorraine recently.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2021
Mostly, though, the former Beatle was providing the kind of inoffensive good vibes that have made him perhaps rock’s cuddliest superstar over the last half-century.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2016
“Japan has the cuddliest police in the world,” Mr. Parry writes, comparing them to “a tribe of earnest Boy Scouts.”
From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2012
This might seem uncharitable, but Father Solomon's disgust is not without merit; if you're going to be terrorized into constantly sacrificing your cuddliest livestock, shouldn't you have some grasp of the beast's schedule?
From Time ● Mar. 11, 2011
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