as in rustical
tiresomely obvious and unsophisticated
the show's shamelessly cornball jokes appealed to small-town America
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
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
Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 2023
Soderbergh keeps cutting around the cornball potential of the material.
—A.a. Dowd, Chron, 7 Feb. 2023
Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 July 2024
Ivan Reitman’s family comedy is nothing if not cornball.
—EW.com, 2 Mar. 2024
See All Example Sentences for cornball
Adjective
Magic acts and cornball humor remained staples.
—Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 26 Mar. 2023
Soderbergh keeps cutting around the cornball potential of the material.
—A.a. Dowd, Chron, 7 Feb. 2023
Noun
These realist inflections belie a charmingly cornball story.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 July 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
-
Without so many of the fears, complexes, and prejudices hick shaped us in the ‘90s and the ‘00s.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
20 June 2025
-
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
-
These days, Christmas movies, broadly and charitably defined, seem to be synonymous with the brassy, hokey, sickly sweet sort of fare that has a permanent home on the Hallmark Channel and is in perpetual rotation on Netflix.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Flanagan's film leans into some of the hokey aspects of the story that Kubrick rejected in favor of a much colder sort of horror.—
James Grebey,
Time,
12 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
More than a decade later, the series continues to reimagine American histories and channel primal fears — from clowns and cults, to witches and ghosts — with each installment cloaked in social commentary and camp.—
James Mercadante,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Oct. 2025
-
But that won't ease the fears of anyone who categorizes clowns as monsters.—
Marci Robin,
Allure,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Gooamp Ceramic Essential Oil Diffuser More than 4,000 shoppers just bought this gorgeous diffuser with a matte finish that goes with rustic decor.—
Isabel Garcia,
PEOPLE,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Built in 1878, the rustic dance hall has been part of the community for nearly 150 years and has welcomed country legends like Willie Nelson, George Strait, and Kacey Musgraves.—
Lauren Jones,
Southern Living,
5 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
As for partisan rubes like Senator Van Hollen, Maryland can do better.—
Chris Roemer,
Baltimore Sun,
26 June 2025
-
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
-
Yes, this scene is undeniably corny.—
James Factora,
Them.,
26 Sep. 2025
-
The show itself is a caricature of true crime: a corny narrator, cringe-worthy B-roll, exoticism, and cheesy music.—
John J. Lennon
September 24,
Literary Hub,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Using his Hollywood makeup father’s prosthetics, Holliday transforms himself into hayseed-like Chad Powers.—
Baz Bamigboye,
Deadline,
30 Sep. 2025
-
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
-
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
-
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 9 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share