tearjerker

noun

tear·​jerk·​er ˈtir-ˌjər-kər 

: a story, song, play, film, or broadcast that moves or is intended to move its audience to tears

tear-jerking

ˈtir-ˌjər-kiŋ 

adjective

Examples of tearjerker in a Sentence

I'm not in the mood to see a tearjerker. Let's watch something funny instead.

Recent Examples on the Web

If the real-life shark sculpture was a controversial point of community debate, however, Rebekah Fortune‘s highly likable, heart-on-sleeve tearjerker won’t be nearly as divisive. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 10 July 2026

Unsurprisingly, the film is often cited as one of the great tearjerkers of American cinema. — Air Mail, 4 July 2026

Somewhat of a tearjerker, this a multigenerational tale in which a grandmother helps her granddaughter learn to be comfortable in her own skin. — Katherine Polcari, Southern Living, 19 June 2026

But family scenes help ground Kiyoko’s tearjerker in universal questions of shame and self-acceptance that land harder through Coley’s arc than the on-again-off-again fling surrounding her growth. — Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 16 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1912, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for tearjerker

• caseworker
• coworker
• farmworker
• woodworker
• worker