cuddly
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of cuddly
Explanation
Something (or someone) that's soft, snuggly, and huggable is cuddly. Your pet rabbit is so cuddly that you wish you could bring her to school, so you'd be able to hold and hug her all day long. Some people are naturally cuddly, either because they love to hug you, or because they're particularly plump and comfortable. The same is true for animals and dolls — there are some things that seem to be made for cuddling. Cuddly comes from the adorable word cuddle, which probably stems from the obsolete verb cull, "to embrace," or possibly the Middle English couth, "known" or "comfortable with."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Kenia Os played up her cute and cuddly side in her previous album, 2024’s “Pink Aura” — but with her upcoming album “K de Karma,” out Friday, Os is putting that era to bed.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 20, 2026
The study looked at how a small sample of children between the ages of three and five interacted with a cuddly toy called Gabbo.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2026
American astronaut and mother, Jessica Meir, one of the four-member crew, revealed Sunday that she'll take with her the cuddly toy that belongs to her three-year-old daughter.
From Barron's • Feb. 8, 2026
Back in Phnom Penh, cuddly babies had turned into gangly teenagers grappling with their complex identities.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025
It seemed like their whole world was going to fall apart the next day when Mrs. Winterbottom walked in all cuddly with the lunatic.
From "Walk Two Moons" by Sharon Creech
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
