campier; campiest
: in the style of camp : absurdly exaggerated, artificial, or affected in a usually humorous way
campy horror movies
campy humor
Witnessing their synchronized routine, he almost expects them to break into some campy chorus line from one of the seedier nightclubs.—
Margaret Atwood
Margaret AtwoodHe could modify his outbursts into what were sometimes hilariously campy performances.—Robert Gray
Robert Gray
campily
adverb
The new film promises to be as campily outrageous as its predecessors.
—John Stark
John Stark
… the Addams Family, the campily macabre clan created by the late cartoonist Charles Addams …
—Margot Dougherty
Margot Dougherty
campiness
noun
… hoped to take Rocketeer to a much higher level of sophistication and avoid the campiness of some of the more recent comics-inspired films.
—Ron Magid
Ron Magid
… a power-mad despot, played with exhilarating campiness by John Malkovich.
—Steven Rebello
Steven Rebello
Examples of campy in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Part of what's drawn fans to Roan is her energetic and campy live shows, which come with dress codes and themes.
—Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 17 Sep. 2024
The murderer has a campy sensibility of their own, staging crime scenes with dolls and gramophone lullabies that are both unsubtle clues to the killer’s identity and also a reflection of the director’s own sensibility.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2024
Many films have become popular this way, especially before the days of streaming: scrappy little films with a campy sense of humor and talented cast getting to play around and stretch their acting muscles in ways that feel low-stakes for their career.
—Jourdain Searles, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Sep. 2024
Still, the original version would be the one to leave the biggest mark on history; its role in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day as the secret agent’s invisible, missile-spewing ride would prove a highlight of the final, campy film of the Pierce Brosnan era.
—Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 13 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for campy 
Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 17 Sep. 2024
The murderer has a campy sensibility of their own, staging crime scenes with dolls and gramophone lullabies that are both unsubtle clues to the killer’s identity and also a reflection of the director’s own sensibility.
—Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2024
Many films have become popular this way, especially before the days of streaming: scrappy little films with a campy sense of humor and talented cast getting to play around and stretch their acting muscles in ways that feel low-stakes for their career.
—Jourdain Searles, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Sep. 2024
Still, the original version would be the one to leave the biggest mark on history; its role in the 2002 James Bond film Die Another Day as the secret agent’s invisible, missile-spewing ride would prove a highlight of the final, campy film of the Pierce Brosnan era.
—Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 13 Sep. 2024
See all Example Sentences for campy
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'campy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Campy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/campy. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
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