hokey

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈhoʊki/ UK /ˈhəʊki/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like hockey /ɑ/ vs /oʊ/

adj

Meanings

1

adj
mawkishly sentimental or contrived; corny

The film's hokey ending made the audience groan.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · mawkishly sentimental or... corny cheesy mawkish sentimental contrived triteschmaltzy

Opposites

genuine authentic sincere sophisticated

Word family

Derived forms hokeynesshokiness

Related forms hokum

Etymology

American English, early 20th century, probably a back-formation from hokum ('nonsense, pretentious staginess'), itself perhaps a blend of hocus(-pocus) and bunkum.

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

# hokey

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** ˈhoʊki
**IPA (UK):** ˈhəʊki

## Meanings
1. mawkishly sentimental or contrived; corny

## Examples
- The film's hokey ending made the audience groan.

## Synonyms
- corny
- cheesy
- mawkish
- sentimental
- contrived
- trite
- schmaltzy

## Antonyms
- genuine
- authentic
- sincere
- sophisticated

## Derived Forms
- hokeyness
- hokiness

## Related Forms
- hokum

## Etymology
American English, early 20th century, probably a back-formation from hokum ('nonsense, pretentious staginess'), itself perhaps a blend of hocus(-pocus) and bunkum.

## AI Etymology
hokey is an american English, early 20th century, probably a back-formation from hokum ('nonsense, pretentious staginess'), itself perhaps a blend of hocus(-pocus) and bunkum. The history explains the modern form through the named earlier word or formation, without requiring a separate speculative ancestry. The etymology remains cautious where the history is cautious: comparisons, echoic formation, or disputed derivation do not make the ancestry more definite than the forms actually named. In present English, the adjective sense is "mawkishly sentimental or contrived; corny", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as hokum, and in derivatives such as hokeyness and hokiness. Its semantic neighborhood includes corny, cheesy, mawkish, and sentimental, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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hokey

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