cornball
Americannoun
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popcorn rolled into a ball and flavored with molasses or caramel.
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Informal.
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a person who indulges in clichés or sentimentality.
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a country bumpkin; hick.
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adjective
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of cornball
1835–45, corn 1 + ball 1; cornball defs. 2, 3 influenced by slang sense of corn. Cf. screwball, oddball
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.
The music won over the suits, and the Bayou Boys soon had their own daily program, “Hayloft Hoedown,” a mix of blistering, acoustic-only live performances and manic cornball comedy skits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
Once I noticed that the supermarket where I shop was churning out generic cornball Walmart country music to a staff that consisted almost entirely of Hispanic women.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025
“I would go to the door at some Hollywood nightclub and a cornball from Wichita was like, ‘You can’t come in here, bro.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 28, 2023
But he also has a lighter side, occasionally indulging cornball jokes and puns.
From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2022
Some kid giving the camera a thumbs-up like a cornball.
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
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.
