sappy
Americanadjective
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abounding in sap, as a plant.
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full of vitality and energy.
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Slang. silly or foolish.
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Slang. overly sentimental.
It’s one of those sappy romantic ballads.
adjective
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(of plants) full of sap
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full of energy or vitality
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slang silly or fatuous
Other Word Forms
- sappily adverb
- sappiness noun
Etymology
Origin of sappy
First recorded before 1100; Middle English sapy, Old English sæpig; see sap 1, -y 1
Explanation
Something sappy lacks substance. It's silly, foolish, and overly sentimental. Have you ever heard someone refer to a sappy song? That's not a compliment, because anything sappy is considered cheesy, saccharine, clichéd, ludicrous, or goofy. Serious or excellent art would never be called sappy. Greeting cards are often sappy, as is someone saying "I wuv you" to his dog. In the 1550s, sappy meant "full of vitality," but by the end of the 1600s its meaning changed to "foolishly sentimental," possibly influenced by the stickiness of sap.
Vocabulary lists containing sappy
Sickly Sweet Treats: Sappy and Insincere Valentine Words
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Fast Pitch
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Words to Describe a Movie
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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.
He suggested the central pair's friendship "rings false", adding: "What should be piercing, impassioned moments are by turns frivolous and sappy."
From BBC • Nov. 19, 2025
When James Blunt released “You’re Beautiful” in 2005, it quickly climbed the charts around the world, hailed as a bittersweet love song perfect for weddings, first dances, and sappy rom-com montages.
From Salon • May 31, 2025
To counter this, she has an uncommonly strong script for the genre, balancing the sappy and sentimental with a slangy skater-queer-cool-kid voice inhabited comfortably by both Stella and Plaza.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 13, 2024
“I am a very sappy romantic at heart and so I got to find my secret spot for a sweet love story,” Fishko says.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 20, 2024
If Mom was going to get all sappy right here in front of Mr. Reardon, Jonah wouldn’t be able to take it.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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.
