as in cornball
tiresomely obvious and unsophisticated
their father's sense of humor was hokey beyond belief and most people's endurance
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Recent Examples of hokey
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
Surrounded by a bunch of big, hokey hooks from veterans and newcomers of the pop-country elite—Daris Rucker, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett—and an army of songwriters, BigX goes through the ups and downs of a broken heart.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 28 Aug. 2025
The actual reveal was hokey and preposterous.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hokey
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
Surrounded by a bunch of big, hokey hooks from veterans and newcomers of the pop-country elite—Daris Rucker, Luke Combs, Thomas Rhett—and an army of songwriters, BigX goes through the ups and downs of a broken heart.
—Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 28 Aug. 2025
The actual reveal was hokey and preposterous.
—Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hokey
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hokey
Adjective
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There’s a fair share of cornball dialogue in Cornelius Uliano and Bryan Schulz’s screenplay, as well as an excess of reassuring schmaltz at the fadeout.—
Dennis Harvey,
Variety,
3 Oct. 2024
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Another scream for this bad, unabashedly cornball line.—
Evan Minsker,
Rolling Stone,
5 Sep. 2024
Adjective
-
Decorative wood planks make for a rustic accent wall that naturally flows up to the ceiling.—
Claire Hoppe Norgaard,
Better Homes & Gardens,
13 Jan. 2026
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Rounded ball points along the edge of this rustic mirror add some pizzazz without overwhelming the minimalist design.—
Erika Owen,
Architectural Digest,
12 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Sprinkles was known for, among other things, inventive and somewhat corny methods of customer delivery.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2026
-
The tone here is knowingly corny but emotionally confident.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
26 Dec. 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
“Hokey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hokey. Accessed 19 Jan. 2026.
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