sentimentalize
verb
sen·ti·men·tal·ize
ˌsen-tə-ˈmen-tə-ˌlīz 
sentimentalized; sentimentalizing
: to indulge in sentiment
: to look upon or imbue with sentiment
Examples of sentimentalize in a Sentence
The movie sentimentalizes the past.
He does not sentimentalize in his biography.
Recent Examples on the Web
On not a few occasions, Mr. Armani has been aimless, drifty or has fallen into the trap of sentimentalizing his own back pages.
—
Guy Trebay, New York Times, 21 June 2023
History is sentimentalized, making the sketchy story lines seem even more contrived.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2023
Waititi sees sentimentalizing a culture as limiting it.
—Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023
Is trading in the currency of the past a way to distance himself from a lonesome present? Raffish and boyish at the same time — or switching between either mode as a cover for the other — O’Connor’s deft, droll performance implies such possibilities without sentimentalizing them.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 26 May 2023
Trendy, vapid Chazelle sentimentalized a token Mexican immigrant in Babylon, but Jordan and waggish co-screenwriter William Monahan, who scripted Scorsese’s The Departed, plays with ethnicity (those Irish mugs, Lange’s perfect brogue, and Cumming’s perfect Southern twang).
—Armond White, National Review, 17 Feb. 2023
For a while, that omission feels like the right decision, born of a principled refusal to sentimentalize a killer or ascribe his actions to a tidy, convenient set of motives.
—Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2022
The paltry point of this is to sentimentalize the blue transformation/degradation of the West.
—Armond White, National Review, 21 Dec. 2022
The play that has been so keen-eyed about sentimentalizing the industry starts to sentimentalize a little towards the end.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 10 May 2022
Guy Trebay, New York Times, 21 June 2023
History is sentimentalized, making the sketchy story lines seem even more contrived.
—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2023
Waititi sees sentimentalizing a culture as limiting it.
—Rebecca Keegan, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023
Is trading in the currency of the past a way to distance himself from a lonesome present? Raffish and boyish at the same time — or switching between either mode as a cover for the other — O’Connor’s deft, droll performance implies such possibilities without sentimentalizing them.
—Guy Lodge, Variety, 26 May 2023
Trendy, vapid Chazelle sentimentalized a token Mexican immigrant in Babylon, but Jordan and waggish co-screenwriter William Monahan, who scripted Scorsese’s The Departed, plays with ethnicity (those Irish mugs, Lange’s perfect brogue, and Cumming’s perfect Southern twang).
—Armond White, National Review, 17 Feb. 2023
For a while, that omission feels like the right decision, born of a principled refusal to sentimentalize a killer or ascribe his actions to a tidy, convenient set of motives.
—Justin Chang, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2022
The paltry point of this is to sentimentalize the blue transformation/degradation of the West.
—Armond White, National Review, 21 Dec. 2022
The play that has been so keen-eyed about sentimentalizing the industry starts to sentimentalize a little towards the end.
—Helen Shaw, Vulture, 10 May 2022
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sentimentalize.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near sentimentalize
Cite this Entry
“Sentimentalize.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sentimentalize. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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