Standard Lemma guide

campy

adj · name · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: /ˈkæmpi/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: K AE1 M P IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Characterized by camp or kitsch, especially when deliberate or intentional.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Stu liked to watch campy B-movie horror flicks from the 1950s, not because they scared him, but because he found them funny.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: camp, corny, hammy, sill, tawdry, vulgar

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

Clipping of Campylobacter.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, colloquial

Topics: medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

adjective satellite

Meaning 3

providing sophisticated amusement by virtue of having artificially (and vulgarly) mannered or banal or sentimental qualities

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • they played up the silliness of their roles for camp effect
  • campy Hollywood musicals of the 1940's

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: camp

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From camp (“an affected or exaggerated style”) + -y.

Across languages

Translations

6 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: campowy — Translations
  • Spanish: camp — Translations
  • Spanish: teatral — Translations
  • Spanish: amanerado — Translations
  • Spanish: exagerado — Translations
  • Spanish: teatrero — Translations