as in sentimentality
the state or quality of having an excess of tender feelings (as of love, nostalgia, or compassion)
the grating mawkishness of her poetry makes me want to stamp on wildflowers
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Recent Examples of mawkishness
These films explore those bonds without ever resorting to bromides or mawkishness.
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Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 7 Nov. 2025
Then things just unravel into a half-hour of thoroughly phony mawkishness.
—Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mawkishness
Noun
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Taurus’s affinity with sentimentality and enduring love will draw them to this magical story that transcends lifetimes and generations for these soulmates to unite.—
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Newton returned to Carolina in 2021 for eight games, a moment of remarkable sentimentality and splendor.—
Noun
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The Academy historically goes for sentimentalism.—
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McBride is less interested in exploring another motivation for saving locks of hair: the particular sentimentalism that made people cherish the hair of loved ones, especially those who had died, or of honored forebears.—
Cite this Entry
“Mawkishness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mawkishness. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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