Word Study
corny
CIDE DICTIONARY
corny, a. [L. cornu horn.].
Strong, stiff, or hard, like a horn; resembling horn. [1913 Webster]
"Up stood the cornu reed." [1913 Webster]
corny, a.
- Producing corn or grain; furnished with grains of corn. Prior. [1913 Webster]
- Containing corn; tasting well of malt. [1913 Webster]"A draught of moist and corny ale." [1913 Webster]
- Tipsy. Forby. [1913 Webster]
- overly or simplistically sentimental. [PJC]
- trite or tiresome; too weak to be effective; -- said of unsubtle attempts at humor; as, a corny joke; a corny skit. [PJC]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
corny, adj. (cornier, corniest)
1 colloq. a trite. b feebly humorous. c sentimental. d old-fashioned; out of date.
2 of or abounding in corn.
1 colloq. a trite. b feebly humorous. c sentimental. d old-fashioned; out of date.
2 of or abounding in corn.
Derivative
cornily adv. corniness n.
Etymology
CORN(1) + -Y(1): sense 1 f. sense 'rustic'
THESAURUS
corny
back-number, banal, bewhiskered, bromidic, cliched, common, commonplace, cut-and-dried, fade, familiar, fusty, hackney, hackneyed, moth-eaten, musty, old hat, platitudinous, set, shopworn, square, stale, stereotyped, stock, threadbare, timeworn, tired, trite, truistic, unoriginal, warmed-over, well-known, well-worn, worn, worn thinFor further exploring for "corny" in Webster Dictionary Online
