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cloying

American  
[kloi-ing] / ˈklɔɪ ɪŋ /

adjective

  1. causing or tending to cause disgust or aversion through excess.

    a perfume of cloying sweetness.

  2. overly ingratiating or sentimental.

cloying British  
/ ˈklɔɪɪŋ /

adjective

  1. initially pleasurable or sweet but wearying in excess

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • cloyingly adverb
  • uncloying adjective

Etymology

Origin of cloying

First recorded in 1540–50; cloy + -ing 2

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.