as in hokey
tiresomely obvious and unsophisticated
the show's shamelessly cornball jokes appealed to small-town America
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
Dennis Harvey, Variety, 3 Oct. 2024
Another scream for this bad, unabashedly cornball line.
—Evan Minsker, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2024
Jenna West, The Athletic, 9 Aug. 2024
These realist inflections belie a charmingly cornball story.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for cornball
Adjective
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
Another scream for this bad, unabashedly cornball line.
—Evan Minsker, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2024
Noun
Trolling you cornballs for rooting against us is apart of the game.
—Jenna West, The Athletic, 9 Aug. 2024
These realist inflections belie a charmingly cornball story.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 12 July 2024
See All Example Sentences for cornball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cornball
Adjective
-
Somehow the 200-acre eco-theme park avoids being hokey and trite—the biologists and naturalists here take their work seriously.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
29 Apr. 2026
-
What ultimately keeps the house from feeling hokey or trite is Glazer’s commitment to her all-encompassing taste.—
Mark Lamster
Architecture Critic,
Dallas Morning News,
10 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
When Johnson was vice president and visiting Europe, there were reports filed by these British ambassadors in several countries that basically made fun of him as a hick.—
Wendy Naugle,
USA Today,
14 Apr. 2026
-
So a bunch of hicks from Topeka were left up to our own devices of going down to Robert Hall and finding something that might be kind of cool.—
Devon Ivie,
Vulture,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Mountainaire, an eleven-person luxury cabin in Hampshire County along the North River, is the picture of rustic elegance; enjoy lavish meals at the French farm table, light fires in the outdoor fireplace, and snuggle into your vintage four-poster iron bed.—
Condé Nast Traveler,
Condé Nast Traveler,
25 Apr. 2026
-
Seed Studio Landscape Design paired rustic wood fencing with light tile flooring and colorful landscaping to give this space an open and airy feel.—
Kristin Hohenadel,
The Spruce,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
There’s some Streisand, too, and a big dose of Andrea Martin, specifically Martin’s signature SCTV character Edith Prickley, that bawdy, gawdy ham with all the bravado of a Catskills clown.—
Greg Evans,
Deadline,
22 Apr. 2026
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Once completed, the $5 million acquisition will ensure the theater has a permanent home, a place where skateboarding clowns and leek-haired onions can continue to frolic and dance for decades to come.—
Todd Martens,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
The correlation between the songs and Jim’s life may be corny, but the film clearly presents Morrison’s life as a search for these songs.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
10 Mar. 2026
-
Foligno always skirted the line between earnest and corny, but nobody ever doubted his sincerity.—
Scott Powers,
New York Times,
6 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
All those unsuspecting rubes with no idea what’s about to hit them.—
Joe Hagan,
Vanity Fair,
18 Mar. 2026
-
And yet, to holier-than-thou doctors like young Ogilvie (Lucas Iverson), Howard is a cautionary tale: a glutton who can’t control himself, a rube who hasn’t heard of Ozempic, and a lazy slouch who can’t manage to drag himself to aqua aerobics.—
Marah Eakin,
Vulture,
6 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The Lycra Company has corn-fed stretch.—
Alexandra Harrell,
Footwear News,
2 Apr. 2026
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On Tuesday, Sasha De Sola, an old pro in the role, danced it with ravishing self-possession, hardly seeming to need the support of her consort Harrison James, who exuded the corn-fed charm of a linebacker while delivering cleanly polished grande pirouettes.—
Rachel Howard,
San Francisco Chronicle,
11 Feb. 2026
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
Cite this Entry
“Cornball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cornball. Accessed 1 May. 2026.
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