cornball

[ kawrn-bawl ]

noun

1. popcorn rolled into a ball and flavored with molasses or caramel.
2. Informal.
   1. a person who indulges in clichés or sentimentality.
   2. a country bumpkin; hick.

adjective

1. Informal. corny ¹( def 2 ).

cornball

/ ˈkɔːnˌbɔːl /

noun

1. a person given to mawkish or unsophisticated behaviour

adjective

1. another word for corny

Word History and Origins

Origin of cornball¹

1835–45, Americanism; corn ¹ + ball ¹; cornball defs 2, 3 influenced by slang sense of corn. screwball, oddball

Word History and Origins

Origin of cornball¹

C20: from corn ball a sweet consisting of a ball of popcorn and molasses

Example Sentences

It’s intellectual, philosophical, sentimental, even cornball.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s in the series’ DNA to be a little cornball, and that there’s nothing overtly fancy or stylish in the production reflects the sort of nonliterary literature from which it springs.

From Los Angeles Times

“Hewson’s confident, charismatic leading performance has enough grit and spunk to light up the screen,” he wrote, adding that, “Carney, who wrote and directed the film, has a way of not hitting the cornball notes too hard and mixing in enough humor to keep the saccharine tones from overpowering.”

From Seattle Times

“I would go to the door at some Hollywood nightclub and a cornball from Wichita was like, ‘You can’t come in here, bro.’

From Los Angeles Times

This episode’s cornball elements are on full display in its opening scene, as Axe’s forces break up a romance between two aristocratic aliens from different races.

From New York Times

Related Words

• archetypal
• characteristic
• common
• customary
• ordinary
• prototypical
• stereotypic
• stock
• traditional
• typical
• usual