cornball 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of cornballnext
as in hokey
tiresomely obvious and unsophisticated the show's shamelessly cornball jokes appealed to small-town America

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

cornball

2 of 2

noun

ˈkȯrn-ˌbȯl How to pronounce cornball (audio)
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

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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
  1. hokey
  2. hick
  3. rustic
  4. clown
  5. corny
  6. rube
  7. corn-fed
  8. hayseed
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
  • Take Williamsburg’s Beats Karaoke Cafe, an eight-minute walk from the Bedford Avenue station, with a rustic bar on the first floor, leading to a hall of private rooms that continue downstairs.
    — Skyli Alvarez, Condé Nast Traveler, 4 Nov. 2026
  • Jammy onions, sharp cheese, and a literal mountain of cabbage cook down into a rustic gratin in a flaky crust.
    — Bon Appétit, Bon Appetit Magazine, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of rustic
Noun
  • Two clowns in serious legal trouble colluded to put the entire planet in an economic crisis.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 7 Nov. 2026
  • The procession will also welcome 52 floats, 31 clown crews, nine specialty units (such as trycaloons, or balloons ridden on tricycles), seven marching bands, and five balloonicles (that’s a balloon-vehicle hybrid).
    — Rachel Chang, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of clown
Adjective
  • Modern music from the club that has plenty of beats, not corny music by dead people from the Sixties.
    — Madeline ffitch, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Even at his launch, Freddy Krueger is pretty corny, and a little too quick with a locker-room-level pun.
    — Eve Batey, Vanity Fair, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of corny
Noun
  • That’s just the nature of talking about AI these days, when even the most passionate AI champions don’t quite know what the technology might do, and the rest of us rubes are left to try to make sense of it.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Oct. 2026
  • 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
Definition of rube
Adjective
  • Growing up in Brookville, OH, my family would call this kid corn-fed.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 May 2026
  • The Lycra Company has corn-fed stretch.
    — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 2 Apr. 2026
Definition of corn-fed
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
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Cite this Entry

“Cornball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cornball. Accessed 11 Nov. 2026.

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