1893, American English slang, from goo + -y (2). The first element perhaps somehow imitative, or shortened from burgoo (1787) "thick porridge."
Entries linking to gooey
-y 2
adjective suffix, "full of or characterized by," from Old English -ig, from Proto-Germanic *-iga- (source also of Dutch, Danish, German -ig, Gothic -egs), from PIE -(i)ko-, adjectival suffix, cognate with elements in Greek -ikos, Latin -icus (see -ic). Originally added to nouns in Old English; used from 13c. with verbs, and by 15c. even with other adjectives (for example crispy). Adjectives such as hugy, vasty are artificial words that exist for the sake of poetical metrics.
goo n.
1903, American English, of obscure origin, probably a back-formation from gooey.