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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gooey.

Having the consistency of goo: soft or viscous, and sticky.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈɡuːi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡui/General-American

  1. Having the consistency of goo: soft or viscous, and sticky.

    informal
    gooey liquid covered the floor
    The cookies, soft and gooey, proved a smash hit at the party.

  2. Emotional or sentimental, especially to an excessive extent; mushy, soppy.

    figuratively · informal

  3. Distasteful, unpleasant.

    archaic · figuratively · informal
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree English burgood Proto-Germanic *bermô? Proto-West Germanic *bermō Old English beormader. Welsh burym Proto-Indo-European *keh₂ulisder. Latin caulisbor. Proto-Brythonic *kawl Middle Welsh cawl Welsh cawl ? Persian برغولder. Persian پرغولder. Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul)der.? Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *ǵéwstus Proto-Italic *gustus Latin gustus Middle French goûtder. Middle French ragoûterder. French ragoûtbor. English ragout? English burgoo? Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue? English goo Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -ey English gooey The adjective is derived from goo + -ey (a variant of -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’)). The noun is derived from the adjective.

noun/ˈɡuːi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈɡui/General-American

  1. A thing which is soft or viscous, and sticky.

    informal

  2. A person who is regarded as weak or worthless; a fool.

    dated · derogatory · figuratively · informal

  3. A person who favours closer relationships with other people and less structured settings, rather than formal, organized settings; also, an educational approach, curriculum, etc., which is less structured.

    US · figuratively · informal
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree English burgood Proto-Germanic *bermô? Proto-West Germanic *bermō Old English beormader. Welsh burym Proto-Indo-European *keh₂ulisder. Latin caulisbor. Proto-Brythonic *kawl Middle Welsh cawl Welsh cawl ? Persian برغولder. Persian پرغولder. Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul)der.? Proto-Indo-European *ǵews- Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Indo-European *ǵéwstus Proto-Italic *gustus Latin gustus Middle French goûtder. Middle French ragoûterder. French ragoûtbor. English ragout? English burgoo? Proto-Indo-European *gleyH- Proto-Indo-European *glóh₁ytn̥ Proto-Italic *gloiten Latin glūten Late Latin glūs Old French glubor. Middle English glew English glue? English goo Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -ey English gooey The adjective is derived from goo + -ey (a variant of -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’)). The noun is derived from the adjective.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.