Cheesy

How to spell cheesy

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce cheesy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cheesy mean?

1. adjectiveCheap, unsubtle, or over sentimental in a way that feels embarrassing rather than clever.
2. adjectiveTasting, smelling, or made strongly of cheese.

Cheesy in a sentence

• The film ended on a cheesy note that made the whole audience groan.

• The snack aisle was full of cheesy crackers in bright orange packets.

• His cheesy pickup lines never worked on anyone at the office party.

• She ordered a thick, cheesy slice of pizza for lunch.

Where does cheesy come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The base word cheese comes from the Old English cyse or cese, the name for curdled, pressed milk. That Old English form was itself an early borrowing from the Latin caseus, meaning cheese, which spread into the West Germanic languages long before English was written down; the same root survives in the German Kase and the Dutch kaas. The adjective cheesy was formed in English simply by adding the suffix -y, meaning full of or resembling, and it first meant little more than tasting or smelling of cheese. From the early nineteenth century it picked up a slang sense of cheap, inferior, or shabby, and by the mid twentieth century it settled into its now familiar meaning of corny, over sentimental, or lacking in taste. The doubled e and the single s before the y are the small spelling points to watch, since the sound alone could tempt a writer toward an extra letter.

How the word is built

• cheese (the dairy food)
• -y (adjective suffix: full of, resembling)