Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

cloying

/ˈklɔɪ.ɪŋ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 2.29 in modern English

Syllables: cloy-ing
IPA: /ˈklɔɪ.ɪŋ/

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

present participle and gerund of cloy

adj

Unpleasantly excessive.

adj

Excessively sweet.

Example Sentences

"The cloying fondness she displayed was what, in the end, drove me away."
"It was a cloying sense of deja vu attached to the team that finished seventh last season, 22 points off the top and drastically in need of some more dynamism."
"Oliver (Barry Keoghan): I don't normally like chocolate cake. / Elspeth (Rosamund Pike): Yes, it can be cloying, can't it?"

Etymology

By surface analysis, cloy + -ing.

Inflected Forms

more cloying (comparative) most cloying (superlative)

Derived Forms

cloyingly cloyingness noncloying uncloying

Frequently Paired Words

clove

Synonyms

unpleasantly excessive syrupy treacly oversweet saccharine

Rhymes With

enjoying annoying destroying employing deploying toying redeploying buoying hoying joying

Questions

How do you pronounce cloying?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈklɔɪ.ɪŋ/.
What does cloying mean?: present participle and gerund of cloy
Where does cloying come from?: By surface analysis, cloy + -ing.

How to pronounce cloying

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “cloying”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈklɔɪ.ɪŋ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “cloying”.
Repeat and practice — Say “cloying” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.