campy

adjective

ˈkam-pē 

campier; campiest

: in the style of camp : absurdly exaggerated, artificial, or affected in a usually humorous way

campy horror movies

campy humor

Witnessing their synchronized routine, he almost expects them to break into some campy chorus line from one of the seedier nightclubs.

—Margaret Atwood

He could modify his outbursts into what were sometimes hilariously campy performances.

—Robert Gray

campily

ˈkam-pə-lē 

adverb

The new film promises to be as campily outrageous as its predecessors.

—John Stark

… the Addams Family, the campily macabre clan created by the late cartoonist Charles Addams …

—Margot Dougherty

campiness

ˈkam-pē-nəs 

noun

… hoped to take Rocketeer to a much higher level of sophistication and avoid the campiness of some of the more recent comics-inspired films.

—Ron Magid

… a power-mad despot, played with exhilarating campiness by John Malkovich.

—Steven Rebello

Examples of campy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The movie, whose campy tone is borrowed from melodramatic after-school specials and delivered in Early’s signature deadpan, is a study in artifice. —Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 18 June 2026

Their campy rendition came a few minutes before Moore sang it herself at the ceremony, which was filmed in late May in Los Angeles but aired on Bravo and Peacock Wednesday night. —Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 17 June 2026

Domestically, RuPaul's campy comedy Stop! —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 14 June 2026

Nothing screams summer like a big, boisterous, campy musical. —Sheldon Pearce, New Yorker, 12 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

camp entry 3 + -y entry 1

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above