Skip to main content
PlainSpell

corny

/ˈkɔɹni/adjective

corny is spelled C-O-R-N-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, corny means “Boring and unoriginal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in corny?

Letters5: C-O-R-N-Y
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.7 times per million words; the 21,516th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is corny?

Corny appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce corny?

  • UK /ˈkɔːni/
  • US /ˈkɔɹni/

Corny has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-corny.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with corny?

One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as corny from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹni/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: crony.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of corny

  • cornier comparative
  • corniest superlative
  • more corny comparative
  • most corny superlative

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does corny mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Boring and unoriginal.

    The duct tape and wire was a pretty corny solution.

  2. 2

    Hackneyed or excessively sentimental.

    The movie was okay, but the love scene was really corny.

  3. 3

    slangUncool, stupid, lame.

  4. 4

    rareContaining corn.

  5. 5

    obsoleteProducing corn or grain; furnished with grains of corn.

  6. 6

    UKobsoleteslangTipsy; drunk.

  7. 7

    Horny (sexually aroused; experiencing sexual desire).

  8. 8

    Having or pertaining to corns (a type of callus).

  9. 9

    obsoleteHorny; strong, stiff or hard like horn; resembling horn.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Corny in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchbanal (insipid or trite), dégoulinant, kitsch, sirupeux, mielleux, cucul (excessively sentimental)
Germanabgedroschen (insipid or trite), kitschig, schmalzig (excessively sentimental)
Portugueselamechas, piegas, brega (excessively sentimental)
Spanishcursi, huachafo, wacha, ñoño, sensiblero, hortera (excessively sentimental)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does corny come from?

From Middle English corny, equivalent to corn (“a type of cereal or grain”) + -y. Piecewise doublet of grainy.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after corny