cloying

adjective

cloy·ing ˈklȯi-iŋ

ˈklȯiŋ

Synonyms of cloying next

: disgusting or distasteful by reason of excess

cloying sweetness

also : excessively sweet or sentimental

a cloying romantic comedy

Her coyness grows cloying after a while … —

Elysa Gardner

cloyingly adverb

Did you know?

We won’t bore you with the sappy tale behind the word cloying, because happily, there isn’t one. That’s because its history isn’t sweet, but rather tough as nails. Cloying comes from the verb cloy, which had among its earliest uses the meaning (to quote the Oxford English Dictionary) “to render [a gun] useless by driving a spike or plug into the touch-hole.” This ultra-specific sense of clogging and stuffing arose alongside both broader and figurative ones, including “to fill or choke up,” and cloy has since come to mean “to supply or indulge to excess.” Accordingly, cloying implies a nauseating amount of something that might be pleasing in smaller doses, especially both literal and metaphorical sweetness.

Examples of cloying in a Sentence

After a while, the softness of his voice becomes cloying. the cloying sentiments of so many Mother's Day cards

Recent Examples on the Web

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thick, deeply flavorful and less cloying than the original, this vegan rendition ($9) uses Shields’s date crystals, chewy pieces of fresh date, soy ice cream and banana. —

Freda Moon, New York Times, 26 Dec. 2024 Try a Rice Krispie Treat with sesame and brown butter paired with a Brut-style Champagne — the acidity of the Champagne will cut through the cloying sweetness. —

Jillian Dara, Forbes, 21 Dec. 2024 Future Disney Channel star Brandon Baker plays Mowgli, in a cloying, awkward performance that fits with the hacky sitcom writing. —

Josh Bell, Vulture, 20 Dec. 2024 Manage the aftertaste: Combining different sweeteners can help balance out flavors and minimize cloying sweetness or cooling aftertaste. —

Lauren O'Connor, Ms, Health, 18 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for cloying