cornball

American  

[kawrn-bawl] / ˈkɔrnˌbɔl /

noun

1. popcorn rolled into a ball and flavored with molasses or caramel.

2. Informal.

   1. a person who indulges in clichés or sentimentality.

   2. a country bumpkin; hick.

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adjective

1. Informal. corny.

cornball British  

/ ˈkɔːnˌbɔːl /

noun

1. a person given to mawkish or unsophisticated behaviour

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adjective

1. another word for corny

Etymology

Origin of cornball

1835–45, corn ¹ + ball ¹; cornball defs. 2, 3 influenced by slang sense of corn. screwball, oddball

Example Sentences

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

But then, Cameron’s cutting-edge technophilia has always been married to, and complemented by, an unapologetic cornball classicism.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 13, 2022

But he also has a lighter side, occasionally indulging cornball jokes and puns.

From New York Times • Feb. 6, 2022

While the attendees' sporadic voiceovers border on cornball platitudes at times, there's no mistaking their pre-concert frenzy as wannabe concertgoers surrender their hopes to the whimsy of dial-up ticket services.

From Salon • Sep. 18, 2021

"Yeah, he might not say stuff like, Jazz is a cornball," I teased, looking over her shoulder at what she was working on.

From "When I Was the Greatest" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

• archetypal
• characteristic
• common
• customary
• ordinary
• prototypical
• stereotypic
• stock
• traditional
• typical
• usual