corny
1 Americanadjective
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cornier,
comparative
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corniest
superlative
adjective
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trite or banal
-
sentimental or mawkish
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abounding in corn
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of corny1
First recorded in 1350–1400; 1930–35 corny 1 for def. 2; Middle English; corn 1 + -y 1
Origin of corny2
Explanation
If your Uncle Marvin has a habit of telling corny jokes, they probably make you groan every single time. Corny describes something that's either worn out and tiresome or overly sentimental — and sometimes both. It can be hard to talk about something emotional without becoming corny. Try describing love at first sight without becoming trite or stickily sentimental and you'll know first-hand how easily you can find yourself sounding corny. For years corny simply meant "full of corn," or "tasting of malt." Sometime in the 1930s it became popular slang meaning "appealing to country folk," who were also described at the time as corn-fed, because of their supposed connection to farms.
Vocabulary lists containing corny
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.
See Examples For:
Panettiere’s grounded presence helps untether the film from its somewhat corny conceit, giving it authentic complexity.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
"I'm a physics teacher and I've got a terrible sense of humour," he confesses, so he particularly likes it if the students pick up on his fondness for corny puns.
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
"I think for me those are the sounds of independence... it's also the sound of freedom, without trying to sound all corny."
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
Is it unbelievably corny and retro to say free-market capitalism was built for the little guy?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
This is definitely Quinton’s corny sense of humor at work.
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
“She’s a little bit cornier than us,” senior guard Charisma Osborne said, “but yeah, I think she really sets the standard.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 29, 2024
The soup tasted cornier than what you gnaw off the cob, because they roast the cobs to make the stock.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 14, 2017
In fact, the cornier the quips, the more they seemed to like it.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 6, 2015
An Interview With Janusz Kaminski The story, in its early chapters, also takes you back to an older — you may well say cornier — style of entertainment.
From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2011
Her mom and dad, together and apart, weirdly hovering over her hospital bed like aliens from movies even cornier than teenage family dramas.
From "Look Both Ways" by Jason Reynolds
This prompted Minaj to tweet, "The corniest thing you can be is ungrateful. Give thanks."
From Salon ● Feb. 4, 2024
But the overall mood is warm and cheery, and Lohan brings a spontaneous sincerity to even the corniest scenes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 25, 2022
Just not if you’re the type of muso who finds best-of lists to be tacky, reflexive rituals that serve only to replicate and reinforce the marketplace’s ugliest, corniest competitive impulses.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2019
“I like to think of myself as the corniest, most awful thing you could possibly imagine,” he told me.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 15, 2017
My mom and dad lived the corniest of love stories, and as 1 got older, it embarrassed me to no end.
From "Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel" by Harlan Coben
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.
