Standard Lemma guide

sappy

adj · 7 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

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  • /ˈsæpi/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -æpi

1

adj

Meaning 1

Excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy. (British equivalent: soppy)

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US

Examples

  • It was a sappy love song, but it reminded them of their first dance.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: schmaltzy, syrupy, treacly, bathetic, cheesy, squishy, corny, drippy, gooey, hokey, icky, kitsch, kitschy, maudlin, mawkish, mushy, overemotional, oversentimental, overwrought, sappy, sickly sweet, slushy, soppy, soupy, dulcet, nectareal, nectarean, nectarine, nectarous, saccharine, sugary, sweet, sweetsome

Antonyms: none provided

2

adj

Meaning 2

Having (a particularly large amount of) sap.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: sapful

Antonyms: none provided

3

adj

Meaning 3

Juicy.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

Examples

  • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book Two, Canto XII, Stanza 56, edited by Erik Gray, Hackett, 2006, p. 214, In her left hand a Cup of gold she held, And with her right the riper fruit did reach, Whose sappy liquor, that with fulnesse sweld, Into her cup she scruzd, with daintie breach Of her fine fingers, without fowle empeach, That so faire winepresse made the wine more sweet:
  • 1693, François Rabelais, Gargantua and Pantagruel, Book III, (1546), translated by Thomas Urquhart, Chapter 18, The words of the third article are: She will suck me at my best end. Why not? That pleaseth me right well. You know the thing; I need not tell you that it is my intercrural pudding with one end. I swear and promise that, in what I can, I will preserve it sappy, full of juice, and as well victualled for her use as may be.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: juiceful, succulent, succulous

Antonyms: none provided

4

adj

Meaning 4

Spongy; Having spaces in which large quantities of sap can flow.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: spongelike

Antonyms: none provided

5

adj

Meaning 5

Musty; tainted; rancid.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

adjective satellite

Meaning 6

abounding in sap

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • sappy maple trees
  • sappy kindling wood

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

adjective satellite

Meaning 7

ludicrous, foolish

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • gave me a cockamamie reason for not going
  • wore a goofy hat
  • a silly idea
  • some wacky plan for selling more books

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cockamamie, cockamamy, goofy, silly, wacky, whacky, zany

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English sappy, sapy, from Old English sæpiġ (“full of sap, succulent”), equivalent to sap + -y. Cognate with West Frisian sappig (“juicy”), Dutch sappig (“juicy, succulent”), Middle High German saffic, seffec ("juicy, succulent"; > German saftig), Danish saftig (“juicy”), Swedish saftig (“juicy”). Doublet of zaftig.

Compare Latin sapere (“to taste”).

Across languages

Translations

36 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: embafador — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Catalan: apegalós — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Czech: přihlouplý — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Czech: přeslazený — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Czech: limonádový — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Dutch: melig — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Dutch: sentimenteel — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Dutch: stroperig — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Dutch: honingzoet — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Finnish: imelä — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Finnish: siirappinen — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • French: cucul — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • French: mielleux — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Italian: sdolcinato — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Italian: mieloso — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Italian: stucchevole m. — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Portuguese: piegas — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Portuguese: meloso — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Portuguese: grudento — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Romanian: siropos — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Romanian: emoționant — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Romanian: nostalgic — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Russian: слаща́вый (slaščávyj) — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Spanish: cursi — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Swedish: fånig — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Swedish: sentimental — excessively sweet, emotional, nostalgic; cheesy; mushy
  • Armenian: հյութեղ (hyutʻeġ) — having sap
  • Bulgarian: сочен (sočen) — having sap
  • Czech: šťavnatý — having sap
  • Dutch: sappig — having sap
  • Dutch: sap- — having sap
  • Finnish: mahlainen — having sap
  • Ingrian: mahlain — having sap
  • Māori: hūtororē — having sap
  • Middle English: sappy — having sap
  • Romanian: siropos — having sap