cheesy
Americanadjective
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of or like cheese.
a cheesy aroma; a cheesy taste.
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Slang. inferior or cheap; chintzy.
The movie's special effects are cheesy and unconvincing.
adjective
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like cheese in flavour, smell, or consistency
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informal (of a smile) broad but possibly insincere
a big cheesy grin
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informal banal or trite; in poor taste
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of cheesy
Explanation
Use the word cheesy to describe something that's cheap or badly made. You might hope your fake Rolex watch will impress your friends, but they're bound to see how cheesy it is. A really horrible motel room, with shag carpeting and strange art on the walls, can be described as cheesy, and so can a badly-written, sloppily made television movie. Cheesy is a great informal way to talk about shoddy or slightly unpleasant things. It comes from late 1800's United States university student slang, which also included the term cheese, which meant "ignorant, stupid person."
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.
Beyond the stage, and framed perfectly by those two screens, sit the glowing, cheesy arches where the actual fights will take place.
From Slate • Jun. 16, 2026
"I wasn't planning on making one, it's very hard to do without being cheesy," he says.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
There’s this new play on the ’80s but not in a cheesy way.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 5, 2026
There were also plenty of cheesy comments, of course.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
Unlike the others, she’d entered this cheesy pageant as a revolutionary act.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
