cheese up
C1 slang separable transitive
In simple words
To make something look or sound too sweet, sentimental, or fake — like adding too many clichés or tacky decorations.
Meanings
1 C1
idiomatic
slang
To make something excessively sentimental, kitschy, or clichéd in style.
"The director really cheesed up the ending with an unnecessary slow-motion reunion scene."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
Informal and not widely attested in dictionaries. Derived from 'cheesy' (meaning tacky, overly sentimental, or clichéd). More common in informal creative and pop-culture discussions.
Commonly used with
movie ending speech design performance song
Forms
Base
cheese up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
cheeses up
he/she/it
Past simple
cheesed up
yesterday
Past participle
cheesed up
have + pp
-ing form
cheesing up
continuous
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