mawkishness

as in sentimentality
the state or quality of having an excess of tender feelings (as of love, nostalgia, or compassion) the grating mawkishness of her poetry makes me want to stamp on wildflowers

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for mawkishness
Noun
  • But Ramsay’s fondness for abrasive characters and her complete aversion to sentimentality, while admirable qualities in a filmography known for shaking up the quotidian with shock and horror, keep Grace at a distance.
    David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 17 May 2025
  • Yet, Marshall seems unwilling to let go of that genial sentimentality.
    Tom Gliatto, People.com, 9 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • McBride is less interested in exploring another motivation for saving locks of hair: the particular sentimentalism that made people cherish the hair of loved ones, especially those who had died, or of honored forebears.
    Margaret Talbot, New Yorker, 21 July 2025
  • While leaders of the nature-study movement warned against sentimentalism and make-believe, young readers were delighted by such tales.
    Jessica George, JSTOR Daily, 25 June 2025
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“Mawkishness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mawkishness. Accessed 27 Aug. 2025.

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