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clingy
[ kling-ee ]
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Other Words From
- clingi·ness noun
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Example Sentences
They can be irritable or clingy and have meltdowns over seemingly tiny things.
It retained some sweat on sweltering runs, but it never got saturated and clingy.
Malaria parasites survive tough times by not being too clingy.
Over the years, Miss Piggy has been faulted for her clingy, seemingly obsessive relationship with Kermit the Frog.
And a few weeks later, he committed the same offense, stepping outside in some (un)fortunately super-clingy pants.
Vivian Salama on why Yemenis can't shake their clingy ex-president.
If Karzai were a clingy ex, Obama could then change his phone number or, in the worst-case scenario, file a restraining order.
Clad head to toe in clingy black fabrics—the top half of her sequined!
And when he had made up his mind what to do he gritted his teeth and put both arms about the Clingy Thing.
She was as remote as the stars, he knew, yet a moment before he had felt her soft, clingy scarf blowing against his face.
I hed a gown o' thet once: it was drefful kind o' clingy stuff.
The stuff was spongy and sticky and clingy, and he had now sunk deep into it up to his stomach.
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More About Clingy
What does clingy mean?
A person who is overly attached to or emotionally dependent on another person can be described as clingy.
What are some other words related to clingy?
Where does clingy come from?
The word clingy is recorded in the early 1700s, originally used to describe objects that would literally cling to things. Clingy, referring to people, emerges by the late 19th century. In an 1896 issue of Munsey’s Magazine, for instance, a woman describes more delicate peers, said to depend on men to provide for them and save them from snakes and wild animals, as “Clingy Vine” women. This use helps illustrate the evolution of clingy from literal, physical clinging to metaphorical, emotional kinds.
In his work on attachment theory in children in the 1970s, Dr. John Bowlby described children who were too emotionally dependent on their parents as acting clingy, unwilling to be separated from them. Bowlby’s work contributed to the wider field of psychology and helped parents to manage clingy children (and maybe even vice versa).
Describing romantic partners, typically boyfriends or girlfriends, as clingy takes off at least by the early 1990s. Online around this time, people were comparing clingy partners to toddlers and pets who displayed similar behavior.
How is clingy used in real life?
Children and partners are often described as clingy. When used about children, clingy is often discussed as a phase for toddlers. When used about partners, clingy tends to be a negative term more often issued as a complaint against girlfriends who need too much attention.
Be mindful that clingy can be considered a gendered term and potentially sexist stereotype, and it may appear alongside needy or high-maintenance. (Men may be described as possessive, controlling, or jealous for similar behaviors.) A popular 2012 meme, Overly Attached Girlfriend, memorably parodied clingy behavior, especially as it spilled over into the creepy.
More examples of clingy:
“He got more possessive and more clingy towards her, and wouldn’t let her do certain things.”
—Lauren Hutton interviewed by Joseph Diaz, Keturah Gray, and Lauren Effron, ABC News, September 2018
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