Word Origin & History
cheesy
"cheap, inferior," 1896, from Urdu chiz "a thing," picked up by British in India by 1818 and used in the sense of "a big thing." By 1858, cheesy had evolved a slang meaning of "showy," which led to the modern, ironic sense. Cheesed "disgruntled, exasperated," is from 1941, British slang, but the connection is uncertain.