cheesy
part of speech
adjective (cheesy, cheesier, cheesiest)
meaning for a pupil
1) Tasting or smelling of cheese, or full of cheese. tree →
2) (informal) Silly, cheap or too sentimental in an embarrassing way, as in «a cheesy joke» or «a cheesy song». tree →
3) (informal) A «cheesy grin» is a very big, wide smile, often a bit fake, like when you say «cheese» for a photo. tree →
sense in the lessons
In food talk, cheesy pasta or cheesy chips have lots of cheese. In everyday and school talk, «cheesy» is a common informal word for corny jokes, films and pop songs. In writing lessons, teachers may say an ending is «cheesy» if it is too sweet or predictable.
examples
- We had cheesy pasta bake for tea. tree →
- Dad tells really cheesy jokes. tree →
- The film had a cheesy happy ending. tree →
- He gave a big cheesy grin for the photo. tree →
- These crisps are extra cheesy. tree →
- That song is so cheesy, but I love it. tree →
- Cheesy feet smell is caused by bacteria! tree →
note
Adjective: cheese + -y (drop the e). Comparatives: cheesier, cheesiest. Informal for meanings 2 and 3. Similar: corny (jokes), naff (UK).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «cheesy» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.