as in rustical
tiresomely obvious and unsophisticated
the show's shamelessly cornball jokes appealed to small-town America
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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Recent Examples of cornball
A.a. Dowd, Chron, 7 Feb. 2023
Seemingly the only non-conservative included in the bit was Shri Thanedar, a Democrat and state representative from Michigan, who appeared in a cornball commercial featuring people demonstrating mind-bendingly bad acting.
—oregonlive, 15 Sep. 2022
Denise Martin, Vulture, 2 Feb. 2024
Ivan Reitman’s family comedy is nothing if not cornball.
—EW.com, 2 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cornball
Adjective
Soderbergh keeps cutting around the cornball potential of the material.
—A.a. Dowd, Chron, 7 Feb. 2023
Seemingly the only non-conservative included in the bit was Shri Thanedar, a Democrat and state representative from Michigan, who appeared in a cornball commercial featuring people demonstrating mind-bendingly bad acting.
—oregonlive, 15 Sep. 2022
Noun
What if there’s a fry-at-home thing to make these cornballs with that you would get horribly burnt on?
—Denise Martin, Vulture, 2 Feb. 2024
Ivan Reitman’s family comedy is nothing if not cornball.
—EW.com, 2 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cornball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cornball
Noun
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Without so many of the fears, complexes, and prejudices hick shaped us in the ‘90s and the ‘00s.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
20 June 2025
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Sorrentino may also be exorcising some conflicting feelings about his birthplace, which is portrayed as a vulgar, crude place populated by crooks and hicks and photographed like its paradise.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
7 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The achilles heel of the series was what now seems like hokey special effects.—
Jim Clash,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
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The bit was mostly chalked up to a PR stunt, in line with the hokey tone of The Naked Gun.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
30 July 2025
Noun
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Carnival Midway’s cast of trapeze artists, aerialists, jugglers and clowns perform every hour on the half hour, starting at 1:30 p.m. (on weekends, the show kicks off at 11:30a.m.).—
Alex Schechter,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Aug. 2025
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Guests were surrounded by a surreal landscape of vanishing walls, floating furniture, and a creepy clown with a menacing smile.—
Simon Thompson,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
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For the best experience, book one of 60 spots at the 100-year-old LeConte Lodge which features multi-room lodges and rustic cabins.—
Tara Massouleh McCay,
Southern Living,
13 Aug. 2025
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The ambience is rustic and relaxed, without a whiff of the tension food done this well sometimes generates.—
Jeannette Cooperman,
Travel + Leisure,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
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As for partisan rubes like Senator Van Hollen, Maryland can do better.—
Chris Roemer,
Baltimore Sun,
26 June 2025
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There was no quintessential American, so Twain imagined him: a wily rube, cynical toward the same refinements of Europe that inspired awe in him.—
Caity Weaver,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2025
Adjective
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Cheering for such idealism used to feel corny; all the cool, caped crusaders had ethical kinks.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 July 2025
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Their skepticism is what’s brilliant about Gunn’s take: Contemporary audiences may also see the story of Superman, an alien adopted by Kansan farmers who raised him to use his powers for unambiguous good, as corny.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
8 July 2025
Noun
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The movie depicts Nashville as a town full of hayseeds who are bamboozled by the fast-talking Reynolds.—
Keith Sharon,
Nashville Tennessean,
2 Feb. 2025
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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
Adjective
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Cattle—even corn-fed ones—tend to spend much of their life on pasture eating grass, which leads to a lot of methane burps, but growing that grass is not carbon intensive.—
Sarah Zhang,
The Atlantic,
8 Jan. 2025
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Never underestimate a corn-fed basic from Hockeytown.—
Meredith Blake,
Los Angeles Times,
29 May 2023
Cite this Entry
“Cornball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cornball. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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