Meaning & use

cloying

adjective·Advanced

Last updated

Excessively sweet, sentimental, or affectionate to the point of being distasteful.

See it in a sentence

The dessert's cloying sweetness made it hard to finish.

Critics called the film's ending cloying and overly sentimental.

A note on using this word

Similar to 'saccharine,' but can also describe overwhelming perfume, flattery, or affection, not just taste.

Words with a similar meaning

saccharinesickly-sweet

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

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