gooey

adjective

goo·​ey ˈgü-ē 

gooier; gooiest

1

informal : soft, wet, and sticky

a gooey mess

With its warm, gooey goodness, this dessert will bring bananas Foster to mind.

—Lillian Chou

Researchers in Japan have extracted a new, gooey, and potentially useful protein from the bodies of jellyfish.

—S. Webb

The order might also include poutine, the gooey mass of French fries smothered in gravy and melted cheese curds that is now beginning to win fans and clog arteries outside Quebec.

—Charles Boberg

2

informal : excessively sweet or sentimental : cloying

gooey sentimentality

a gooey romance

Compared with the hardscrabble mountain and mill-town tale of the father, the soft-edged suburban narrative of the stepson and Bragg's relationship with him feels gooey and romanticized.

—Christopher Dickey

gooeyness

ˈgü-ē-nəs 

noun informal

Ads for food in all of its present-day forms abound in glorious color—from the crackle and crunch of fast-food fried chicken to the gooeyness of a pizza's cheese …

—Judith Crist

I rejoice in a children's film that avoids gooeyness …

—Richard Alleva

Synonyms

• chocolate-box
• cloying
• corny
• drippy
• fruity
• lovey-dovey
• maudlin
• mawkish
• mushy
• novelettish
• saccharine
• sappy
• schmaltzy
• sentimental
• sloppy
• slushy
• soppy
• soupy
• spoony
• spooney
• sticky
• sugarcoated
• sugary
• wet

Examples of gooey in a Sentence

things get especially gooey during the scene in which the lovers are reunited at long last

Recent Examples on the Web

These sweet, crunchy, gooey cookies are simple to make. —Alana Al-Hatlani, Southern Living, 30 Dec. 2024

The action-adventure stuff, the horror, the gooey Christmas gruel, and whatever else director Jake Kasdan throws in are, by comparison, lacking. —Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 13 Nov. 2024

For example, the Oil Paints are luscious and gooey, slightly dimensional, and very realistic. —PCMAG, 9 Oct. 2024

The teddy bear is brown and fluffy, with a red bowtie, and the pizza slice is gooey with cheese and pepperoni. —Ars Technica, 19 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1901, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

gooey

adjective

goo·​ey

ˈgü-ē

informal

1

: soft, wet, and sticky

2

: excessively sentimental

gooeyness noun