Sticking closely to something, or describing a person who doesn't want to be separated from someone they're attached to.
From Middle English 'clingen' meaning 'to hold fast,' possibly from Proto-Germanic roots. The suffix '-y' makes it an adjective, with modern usage expanding to describe emotional dependence.
The word 'clingy' gets applied more often to women than men even when they show identical behavior—a study found that 'needy' and 'clingy' are gendered terms, and this reveals how the same action gets judged differently based on gender expectations.
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