corny

See also: čorny

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔːni/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɔɹni/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)ni

Etymology 1

From Middle English corny, equivalent to corn +‎ -y. In the "hackneyed" sense, from "corn catalogue jokes", reputedly low-quality jokes that were formerly printed in mail-order seed catalogues.

Adjective

corny (comparative cornier, superlative corniest)

1. Boring and unoriginal.

   The duct tape and wire was a pretty corny solution.

2. Hackneyed or excessively sentimental.

   Synonyms: kitsch, kitschy, cheesy, tacky, campy, schlocky, schmaltzy

   The movie was okay, but the love scene was really corny.

   He sent a bouquet of twelve red roses and a card: "Roses are red, Violets are blue, Sugar is sweet, And so are you." How corny is that!

3. (obsolete) Producing corn or grain; furnished with grains of corn.
   • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], OCLC 5634253, (please specify the page):

     The corny ear.

4. (obsolete, UK, slang) Tipsy; drunk.

   Synonyms: drunkish, squiffy; see also Thesaurus:drunk

   • 1850, Joseph Philip Robson, France's Songs of the Bards of the Tyne:

     Yen day when aw was corney.

Translations

insipid or trite

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• French: banal (fr) m
• German: abgedroschen (de)
• Greek: τετριμμένος (el) m (tetrimménos)

• Hungarian: sablonos (hu), elcsépelt (hu), jellegtelen, fantáziátlan, banális (hu)
• Indonesian: murahan (id)
• Japanese: 寒い (ja) (samui), べた (beta)
• Russian: бана́льный (ru) (banálʹnyj)
• Spanish: insipido
• Ukrainian: бана́льний (uk) (banálʹnyj), заяло́жений (zajalóženyj)

excessively sentimental

• Arabic: ثَقِيل الظَِلّ‎ (ṯaqīl aẓ-ẓaill), سَخِيف‎ (saḵīf)
• Bulgarian: сантиментален (bg) (santimentalen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: melig (nl), sentimenteel (nl), oubollig (nl), afgezaagd (nl)
• French: dégoulinant (fr) m, kitsch (fr) m, sirupeux (fr) m
• German: kitschig (de), schmalzig

• Greek: σαχλός (el) m (sachlós)
• Hungarian: csöpögős, szirupos (hu), gejl (hu), szentimentális (hu), érzelgős (hu), giccses
• Italian: sdolcinato (it)
• Norwegian: kårny
• Portuguese: lamechas m, piegas (pt), brega (pt)
• Russian: сентиментальный (ru) (sentimentalʹnyj), слащавый (ru) (slaščavyj)
• Spanish: cursi (es)
• Ukrainian: засентимента́льний (zasentymentálʹnyj)

Etymology 2

Latin cornu (“horn”).

Adjective

corny (comparative more corny, superlative most corny)

1. (obsolete) Strong, stiff, or hard, like a horn; resembling horn.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book 7”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:

     Up stood the cornie Reed.

Anagrams

• Conry, crony, croyn, cry on

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Middle English

Etymology

From corn +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɔrniː/, /ˈkoːrniː/

Adjective

corny

1. (rare) fleshy, swollen
2. (rare) containing corn; tasting of malt, tasting well of malt, malty
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Doctour of Physyckes Tale”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], OCLC 230972125; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, OCLC 932884868:

     Or els a draught of moyste corny ale

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

3. (rare) resembling a grain

Descendants

• English: corny
• Scots: cornie (obsolete, rare)
• >? Yola: cornee

References

• “cō̆rnī, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-07-08.