Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

corny1

[kawr-nee]
See more synonyms for corny on Thesaurus.com
adjective, corn·i·er, corn·i·est.
  1. of or abounding in corn.
  2. Informal.
    1. old-fashioned, trite, or lacking in subtlety: corny jokes.
    2. mawkishly sentimental: a corny soap opera.
Show More

Origin of corny1

1350–1400; 1930–35 for def 2; Middle English; see corn1, -y1
Related formscorn·i·ly, adverbcorn·i·ness, noun

Synonyms

See more synonyms for corny on Thesaurus.com
2. hackneyed, banal, stale.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for corniness

corny

adjective cornier or corniest slang
  1. trite or banal
  2. sentimental or mawkish
  3. abounding in corn
Show More

Word Origin

C16 (C20 in the sense rustic, banal): from corn 1 + -y 1
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

Word Origin and History for corniness

corny

adj.

1570s, "full of corn, pertaining to corn, from corn (n.1) + -y (2). Chaucer used it of ale (late 14c.), perhaps to mean "malty." American English slang "old-fashioned, sentimental" is from 1932 (first attested in "Melody Maker"), perhaps originally "something appealing to country folk" (corn-fed in the same sense is attested from 1929). Related: Cornily; corniness.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper