mawkish

adjective

mawk·​ish ˈmȯ-kish How to pronounce mawkish (audio)
1
: lacking flavor or having an unpleasant taste
2
: exaggeratedly or childishly emotional
a mawkish love story
mawkish poetry
mawkishly adverb
mawkishness noun

Did you know?

The Squirming Origins of Mawkish

Mawkish really opens up a can of worms—or maggots, as it were: the word wriggled out from Middle English mawke, meaning “maggot.” Its earliest sense, used in the late 17th century but now obsolete, was synonymous with squeamish (understandable!) but not long after that mawkish was used to describe an unpleasant, nauseating, often sickeningly sweet flavor. It’s no surprise that a figurative sense of mawkish, used to describe things that are full of “sickly sweet” sentimentality, arose almost concurrently, one of several food texture- and taste-related words favored by critics to show disdain for art they deem overly emotive, including gooey, saccharine, mushy, and schmaltzy.

Examples of mawkish in a Sentence

a mawkish plea for donations to the charity
Recent Examples on the Web Based on the 2005 bestselling book, Marley & Me had the potential to come across as a mawkish tale of puppy love, but instead is told as a heartwarming story of friendship, loss, and letting go. Andrew Walsh, EW.com, 14 Nov. 2023 Ed refused to spoon Bob, and his gentle and emancipated soul would surely rebuff mawkish kindness. Daniel Felsenthal, The New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2024 What might seem mawkish on paper ends up deeply affecting in practice. Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 28 Dec. 2023 But Lawrence’s outfit was less mawkish, and just a little more glamorous than back then. Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 13 Oct. 2023 Russian missile strike kills at least 10 in Lviv, far from front line This week’s hagiographic effort was a mawkish video released by the Kremlin on Tuesday of Putin meeting an 8-year-old Derbent girl summoned to his office. Robyn Dixon, Washington Post, 8 July 2023 Ford gets mawkish here; Spencer Tracy keeps it real. The New Republic, 22 June 2023 In limited theatrical release November 25 Director Florian Zeller pulled off several miracles with 2020's The Father, an elegant drama about dementia that was never mawkish, and a reminder (for anyone who needed it) that Anthony Hopkins was always more than fava beans and a nice Chianti. Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 23 Nov. 2022 Will the delicate touch that has scored so effectively with viewers and Emmy voters be abandoned for mawkish valedictions? John Anderson, WSJ, 14 Mar. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mawkish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Middle English mawke maggot, probably from Old Norse mathkr — more at maggot

First Known Use

circa 1697, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of mawkish was circa 1697

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Cite this Entry

“Mawkish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mawkish. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mawkish

adjective
mawk·​ish ˈmȯ-kish How to pronounce mawkish (audio)
1
: having a weak often unpleasant taste
2
mawkishly adverb
mawkishness noun

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