Meanings
- derogatoryslanguncountablecomputingExceptionally low-quality software.
Many of the games they stock now are already in the mini-boxes, new titles not just cheeseware.
2002 January 3, John Capriotti, “Re: Walmart: Games in DVD cases??”, in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action (Usenet)2 more examples
Perhaps most important, it has removed us even further from the "gee whiz!" mind-set that dominated our first reactions to computing--a frame of mind that made us so appreciative of the wondrous complexity of those putty-colored boxes that we became vulnerable to the half-baked, the beta, and even the well-marketed cheeseware.
2000 September 1, “The New Computers in School”, in Strategic FinanceTo run the AOL cheeseware on more than one machine at once (why, FFS, I have no idea) you need more "screen names" whatever they may be.
2005 August 9, Phil Thompson, “Re: AOL Broadband”, in uk.telecom.broadband (Usenet)Synonyms: coasterware, crapware, crudware, shitware
Synonyms & antonyms
nounExceptionally low-quality software.
Origin
- Latincāseus
- Proto-Germanic*kāsijaz
- Proto-West Germanic*kāsī
- Old Englishċīese
- Middle Englishchese
- Englishcheese
- Proto-Indo-European*sem-
- Proto-Germanic*samþuz /*samftuz
- Proto-West Germanic*samft(ī)
- Old Englishsōfte
- Middle Englishsofte
- Englishsoft
- Proto-Germanic*warō
- Proto-West Germanic*waru
- Old Englishwaru
- Middle Englishware
- Englishsoftwarebf.
- Englishcheeseware
Cite this entry
cheeseware. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheeseware
“cheeseware.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheeseware. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cheeseware,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cheeseware.
Source: cheeseware on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.