as in rustical
tiresomely obvious and unsophisticated
the show's shamelessly cornball jokes appealed to small-town America
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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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples Sentences
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Recent Examples of cornball
A.a. Dowd, Chron, 7 Feb. 2023
Seemingly the only non-conservative included in the bit was Shri Thanedar, a Democrat and state representative from Michigan, who appeared in a cornball commercial featuring people demonstrating mind-bendingly bad acting.
—oregonlive, 15 Sep. 2022
EW.com, 2 Mar. 2024
Meanwhile, customers grew to know him for his hospitable eccentricity and his cheerful cornball ads.
—oregonlive, 13 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for cornball 
Adjective
Soderbergh keeps cutting around the cornball potential of the material.
—A.a. Dowd, Chron, 7 Feb. 2023
Seemingly the only non-conservative included in the bit was Shri Thanedar, a Democrat and state representative from Michigan, who appeared in a cornball commercial featuring people demonstrating mind-bendingly bad acting.
—oregonlive, 15 Sep. 2022
Noun
Ivan Reitman’s family comedy is nothing if not cornball.
—EW.com, 2 Mar. 2024
Meanwhile, customers grew to know him for his hospitable eccentricity and his cheerful cornball ads.
—oregonlive, 13 Sep. 2023
See all Example Sentences for cornball
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cornball
Noun
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In first grade, when a teacher called him a hick, Ciotti threw an inkwell at her.—
D. T. Max,
The New Yorker,
23 Sep. 2024
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In the special, taped at Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, NV, Kober brings audiences together with stories about dealing with hometown hicks, unforgiving fruit flies and California candy cartels.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
25 June 2024
Adjective
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To gain her confidence, Arabella pretends to be Jewish (a hokey contrivance that Shakespeare would have approved of), and Indji shares the story of her banishment.—
Gal Beckerman,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2025
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Cutting a long story short, a vocal minority of reactionary gamers is perturbed that a sci-fi video game features a Black samurai protagonist, despite the game’s hokey premise centering on the genetic recording of memories written to computer software.—
Lewis Gordon,
Vulture,
8 Jan. 2025
Noun
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The story features Mauro, a clown who dreams of a carnival where a parade of revelers are celebrating his life.—
Joanne Shurvell,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
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Both movies feature a killer clown, but while Joaquin Phoenix’s grinning menace suffers from delusions of grandeur and an unspecified mental illness, the hideous ghoul from hell in Terrifier known as Art hacks away at his victims with no discernible motivation beyond the grisly acts themselves.—
Eric Kohn,
The Hollywood Reporter,
6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The rustic country club, known for its annual fireworks show, was decimated after more than 100 years.—
Colleen Shalby,
Los Angeles Times,
11 Jan. 2025
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Constructed with indigenous wood and bamboo and imbued with a vibrant flower garden, this rustic hotel provides guests with a glimpse into the traditional architecture and culture of Araucanía, with ten colorful rooms to choose from across the property.—
Jared Ranahan,
Forbes,
10 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Well, the rubes just elected Donald Trump president.—
Chris Roemer,
Baltimore Sun,
8 Nov. 2024
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That’s easy: a rube, chump, or mark, whose naive optimism sets them up for betrayal.—
Jamil Zaki,
TIME,
3 Sep. 2024
Adjective
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Except … some of us were ready to actually go along with a good old-fashioned corny Billy Crystal–style musical parody.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
6 Jan. 2025
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James Beard Award semifinalist Julio Hernandez launches his latest Nashville venture to long lines and a packed dining room Brad Schmitt Nashville Tennessean 0:00 0:29 Not to be corny, but the new brick-and-mortar Maiz de la Vida is poppin'.—
Mackensy Lunsford,
The Tennessean,
11 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Mantle was the voluble hayseed from Oklahoma who could hit anything but was corrupted by the big city, and wound up undone by alcohol and knee injuries.—
Adam Gopnik,
The New Yorker,
21 June 2024
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Today, the variety shows’ wise-clown hayseeds (overalls, prosthetic teeth, silly hats, no shoes) are the ones who get all the good lines, whose material is distinctive in its political sensibility and cultural hobbyhorses.—
Rafil Kroll-Zaidi,
Harper's Magazine,
30 Mar. 2024
Noun
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Carter, perhaps the most decent man to ever occupy the Oval Office, was long written off as a country bumpkin, one who perhaps unsurprisingly left office as a one-term anomaly.—
Philip Elliott,
TIME,
9 Jan. 2025
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Emily in Paris On Location: Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris Rediscover Paris as Chicago bumpkin Emily (played by Lily Collins) moves there for a job and takes you to places like Galeries Lafayette, Galerie-Musee Baccarat and Hotel Plaza Athénée Paris.—
Forbes Travel Guide,
Forbes,
14 Sep. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near cornball
Cite this Entry
“Cornball.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cornball. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.
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