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

But rather than imitate what came before, Hsu leans into Janet's awkward sincerity and gradual awakening, finding fresh emotional textures beneath the show's campy surface. —Dave Quinn, PEOPLE, 19 May 2026

The resulting feature is enigmatic and lightly campy, strange and hallucinatory, taking place in a liminal futuristic city that’s clogged with thick mist and terrorized by a violent serial killer named Leather Man. —Rachel Handler, Vulture, 18 May 2026

The gown's feathery sleeves offered a campy flair that made the look equal parts showgirl and high-fashion model. —Edward Segarra, USA Today, 4 May 2026

The best reality shows—every Bravo franchise, The Kardashians, Dance Moms—are anthropological studies with campy one-liners, life blown up to exaggerated proportions. —Daisy Jones, Vogue, 2 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

camp entry 3 + -y entry 1

First Known Use

1932, in the meaning defined above