sentimental

adjective

sen·​ti·​men·​tal ˌsen-tə-ˈmen-tᵊl How to pronounce sentimental (audio)
1
a
: marked or governed by feeling, sensibility, or emotional idealism
b
: resulting from feeling rather than reason or thought
a sentimental attachment
a sentimental favorite
2
: having an excess of sentiment or sensibility
sentimentally adverb

Examples of sentimental in a Sentence

He has a sentimental attachment to his old high school. She saved her wedding gown for sentimental reasons. He has sentimental ideas about the past. I tend to get very sentimental when I think about my childhood.
Recent Examples on the Web But for someone who grew up enamored by the sentimental melodies of Céline Dion, Destiny’s Child and Mariah Carey, Tems yearned to make soul-stirring songs that sent people deep into their feelings rather than joyful dance records that anyone could catch a vibe to. Heran Mamo, Billboard, 4 Mar. 2024 King Charles is taking on a sentimental royal role previously held by Queen Elizabeth. Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 1 Mar. 2024 Related Stories Spaceman The Bottom Line A sentimental awakening rendered banal by its cosmic setting. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024 On February 18, the 34-year-old pop star was photographed boarding her private jet out of Australia in a look full of sentimental reminders of the NFL tight-end. Emily Tannenbaum, Glamour, 19 Feb. 2024 According to Hotak’s son, the last few chapters of the book were hastily written, marred by grammatical errors, confusing jumps in time, and long, sentimental monologues. Jamil Jan Kochai, The New Yorker, 19 Feb. 2024 From the cheekily seductive to the sweetly sentimental, or even something as practical as a safety alarm, the right gift can turn this day into a milestone of your love story. Cristian Esteban, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2024 Somehow, his music was both cutting-edge and ubiquitous; freewheeling and structured; sentimental and hardheaded; immature and emotionally intelligent; dark and crowd-pleasing; Christian and sinful; Black music but easily enjoyed by white pop fans too. Jayson Buford, Rolling Stone, 13 Feb. 2024 And this season’s choice is obvious, not just for sensibility reasons, but also personally sentimental reasons. Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 9 Feb. 2024

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

Word History

First Known Use

1741, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of sentimental was in 1741

Dictionary Entries Near sentimental

Cite this Entry

“Sentimental.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentimental. Accessed 18 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

sentimental

adjective
sen·​ti·​men·​tal ˌsent-ə-ˈment-ᵊl How to pronounce sentimental (audio)
1
a
: marked by feeling or sentiment
b
: resulting from feeling rather than reason or thought
2
: having an excess of sentiment or sensibility
sentimentally
-ᵊl-ē
adverb

More from Merriam-Webster on sentimental

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