as in sentimental
appealing to the emotions in an obvious and tiresome way
a mawkish plea for donations to the charity
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Recent Examples of mawkish
These kinds of pictures are intended to provoke—to catch the eye with their mawkish absurdity and uncanny-valley optics.
—
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 5 Apr. 2025
The flashbacks are dreamy without becoming mawkish, and Gemma’s scenes in Lumon are nightmarish without feeling untethered or otherwordly.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 28 Feb. 2025
Roz rescues wildlife in a Noah’s Ark analogue, then goes from being a disingenuous Christ figure offering sacrifice and promise (but no resurrection) to a mawkish maternal figure.
—Armond White, National Review, 26 Feb. 2025
Beyond all the legal and even medical specifics resides a sense of communal understanding, and — at the risk of sounding mawkish — a deep and abiding love for one’s fellow human beings, which Feder taps into with aplomb.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mawkish
Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 5 Apr. 2025
The flashbacks are dreamy without becoming mawkish, and Gemma’s scenes in Lumon are nightmarish without feeling untethered or otherwordly.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 28 Feb. 2025
Roz rescues wildlife in a Noah’s Ark analogue, then goes from being a disingenuous Christ figure offering sacrifice and promise (but no resurrection) to a mawkish maternal figure.
—Armond White, National Review, 26 Feb. 2025
Beyond all the legal and even medical specifics resides a sense of communal understanding, and — at the risk of sounding mawkish — a deep and abiding love for one’s fellow human beings, which Feder taps into with aplomb.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 28 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for mawkish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mawkish
Adjective
-
Her new album, La Dame, unites slower and more sentimental shatta ballads with the thumping dancefloor heaters that first drew me to her music.—
Anna Gaca,
Pitchfork,
13 Jan. 2026
-
In December 2025, Bündchen reflected on how her baby boy's birth changed her life in a sentimental Instagram post.—
Yasmeen Hamadeh,
PEOPLE,
10 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Absent were any sloppy moments or off-the-cuff interactions.—
Lisa Respers France,
CNN Money,
12 Jan. 2026
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And devoured them again Saturday night at Viejas Arena in a sloppy 71-52 win that kept the Aztecs tied with Utah State atop the Mountain West at 5-0.—
Mark Zeigler,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
11 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Cramer said strong signs from forwarding holiday spending suggest inflation may remain sticky, setting up tension between a president eager to contain prices and consumers who have borne the brunt of inflation.—
Luke Fountain,
CNBC,
10 Jan. 2026
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To keep a tension rod from slipping, look for rods that have rubber stoppers on the ends or that come with sticky wall brackets.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
9 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mawkish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mawkish. Accessed 16 Jan. 2026.
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