CORNBALL Synonyms: 49 Similar and Opposite Words

cornball 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of cornball

as in hokey

tiresomely obvious and unsophisticated the show's shamelessly cornball jokes appealed to small-town America

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

cornball

2 of 2

noun

ˈkȯrn-ˌbȯl

as in hick

an awkward or simple person especially from a small town or the country a movie about a cornball making his way through a world of cynical sophisticates

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of cornball

Adjective

Davis and Head make strong impressions, masking the pedestrian, sometimes cornball dialogue. — Television Critic, Los Angeles Times, 26 Feb. 2026 With a wry chuckle, McCartney chalks up these cornball elements of his TV specials and other outings to the perils of being surrounded by yes people. — Sheri Linden, HollywoodReporter, 25 Feb. 2026

Noun

Sure, the execution of that effort in an Olympic opening ceremony can tilt to cornball. — Steve Buckley, New York Times, 7 Feb. 2026 The Gallery, which also includes brief performance interludes, is clearly eager to avoid the cornball, lowbrow associations of its genre, like Medieval Times. — Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 19 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cornball

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cornball

Adjective

The idea might seem clever, as if the artist has cannily illustrated how the lovey-dovey notion of romance and family is hokey, brain-dead, false.

— Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Its central plot remains conventional, and its demonology — including a hokey expansion involving the mysterious Cult of the Wise Men — routinely functions more as a set piece than as a serious mystery.

— Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 8 July 2026

Definition of hokey

Noun

When Johnson was vice president and visiting Europe, there were reports filed by these British ambassadors in several countries that basically made fun of him as a hick.

— Wendy Naugle, USA Today, 14 Apr. 2026
So a bunch of hicks from Topeka were left up to our own devices of going down to Robert Hall and finding something that might be kind of cool.

— Devon Ivie, Vulture, 8 Apr. 2026

Definition of hick

Adjective

Bake this easy and tasty pineapple dessert in a tart pan or go free-form for a rustic look.

— Jack Dolan, Los Angeles Times, 23 Sep. 2026
Where to Stay Hotels and Cabins The historic Starved Rock Lodge & Conference Center, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps, has traditional lodge rooms, rustic-chic log cabins, and modern hotel rooms.

— Taryn Shorr-Mckee, Midwest Living, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of rustic

Noun

What followed were Zoom-inclusive mediation meetings, the revelation of tens of thousands of dollars of debt, and something about clown school.

— Sam Stone, Bon Appetit Magazine, 25 Sep. 2026
Twisty the clown crept around, Rubber Man made a second appearance, and black dahlias festooned every table.

— Lauren Sanchez, Vogue, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of clown

Noun

Dominique is in the ensemble as is a blond rube named Hunter (Kristine Froseth) who shows up at Elle’s doorstep in mall-wear denim and then upgrades to desperate, cleavage-baring sequins.

— Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 July 2026
The good news is that this future of an AI takeover is looking increasingly unlikely, at least at the industry’s current pace, a fact which is now dawning on some of the biggest rubes and dupes in the corporate world.

— Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 8 July 2026

Definition of rube

Noun

Duke Slater, pal of Jim Nabors’ hayseed Gomer Pyle on the ’60s sitcom of that name, died of natural causes today at UCLA Hospital in Los Angeles.

— Greg Evans, Deadline, 12 June 2026
Baby Billy’s first full-frontal scene is more a testament to Walton Goggins’s incredible hayseed bravado in the rule.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2025

Definition of hayseed

Browse Nearby Words

corn

cornball

cornballs

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Cornball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cornball. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of cornball

adjective

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

slew

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Popular in Wordplay

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes