corny romance
- noun
- /ˈkɔrni roʊˈmæns/
- Informal
:
romance cursi
- That movie was such a corny romance, but I have to admit I cried at the ending.
Examples
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She rolled her eyes at the idea of watching another corny romance on Valentine's Day.
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Some people enjoy a corny romance now and then, especially when they're in the mood for something light.
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That movie was just another corny romance.
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She loves watching corny romances on weekends.
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She rolled her eyes at the idea of watching another corny romance on Valentine's Day.
-
Some people enjoy a corny romance now and then, especially when they're in the mood for something light.
-
That movie was such a corny romance, but I have to admit I cried at the ending.
Synonyms
A very sentimental love story that feels cheesy and shallow
How Corny
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a romance that is excessively sentimental or trite' is directly derived from combining 'corny' (trite/overly sentimental) with 'romance' (a love story). This simple adjective + noun composition follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The phrase corny romance comes from the word corny, which used to describe simple, country things like stories told in cornfields. One popular story says calling something 'corny' made it sound plain and predictable, so a corny romance is a love story that is 'overly sentimental' and 'predictable'.