cheesy - Definitions from Dictionary.com

5 results for: cheesy

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

chees·y

Audio Help [chee-zee] Pronunciation Key

–adjective, chees·i·er, chees·i·est.

1.	of or like cheese: a cheesy aroma; a cheesy taste.

2.	Slang. inferior or cheap; chintzy: The movie's special effects are cheesy and unconvincing.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME. See cheese¹, -y¹

]

—Related forms

chees·i·ly, adverb

chees·i·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
cheesy

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

chees·y Audio Help (chē'zē) Pronunciation Key
adj. chees·i·er, chees·i·est

Containing or resembling cheese.
Informal Of poor quality; shoddy.

[Sense 2, possibly from cheesy, showy, from cheese³.]

chees'i·ly adv., chees'i·ness n.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

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