as in sentimentality
the state or quality of having an excess of tender feelings (as of love, nostalgia, or compassion)
the over-the-top sappiness of the verse on the Valentine's Day card
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Recent Examples of sappiness
The whole thing strikes a less successful balance between Gunn's dark comic side and his inherent sappiness than The Suicide Squad, the best Guardians of the Galaxy movie to not actually feature the Guardians of the Galaxy.
—
A.a. Dowd, Chron, 28 Apr. 2023
The playful tone, however, oscillates between self-referential nods to the incongruity of people suddenly bursting into song and holiday-movie sentimentality, when either a more bare-knuckled commitment to satire or an unabashed embrace of its sappiness would be in order.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 17 Nov. 2022
But if sappiness or shyness aren’t really the show’s thing, sensitivity is.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 June 2022
That means giving the star a chance to be heroic and funny, while adding a dollop of heart that borders a bit too much on sappiness.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 10 Mar. 2022
Those early moments of violence are actually some of the only ones in a movie that’s fairly light on the gore and heavy on the sappiness, as if Argento’s knives had been dulled by age.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Feb. 2022
The script, by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, is lovely but modest—a tale of Vogel’s personal redemption and self-improvement that could easily come off with the sappiness of a Hallmark special.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2019
As spoken by one character, that line sounds like del Toro’s credited allies the Coen Brothers, which exposes the snark at the base of del Toro’s left-wing sappiness.
—Armond White, National Review, 15 Dec. 2017
The elasticity of language, the silliness and sappiness, felt very much like the expression of the twins.
—Parul Seghal, The Atlantic, 17 June 2017
A.a. Dowd, Chron, 28 Apr. 2023
The playful tone, however, oscillates between self-referential nods to the incongruity of people suddenly bursting into song and holiday-movie sentimentality, when either a more bare-knuckled commitment to satire or an unabashed embrace of its sappiness would be in order.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 17 Nov. 2022
But if sappiness or shyness aren’t really the show’s thing, sensitivity is.
—Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 8 June 2022
That means giving the star a chance to be heroic and funny, while adding a dollop of heart that borders a bit too much on sappiness.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 10 Mar. 2022
Those early moments of violence are actually some of the only ones in a movie that’s fairly light on the gore and heavy on the sappiness, as if Argento’s knives had been dulled by age.
—Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 Feb. 2022
The script, by Micah Fitzerman-Blue and Noah Harpster, is lovely but modest—a tale of Vogel’s personal redemption and self-improvement that could easily come off with the sappiness of a Hallmark special.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2019
As spoken by one character, that line sounds like del Toro’s credited allies the Coen Brothers, which exposes the snark at the base of del Toro’s left-wing sappiness.
—Armond White, National Review, 15 Dec. 2017
The elasticity of language, the silliness and sappiness, felt very much like the expression of the twins.
—Parul Seghal, The Atlantic, 17 June 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sappiness
Noun
-
Beer, wine, dinner, coffee and a unique aesthetic ‘Unexpected benefit’ Former West Village resident and current Brooklynite Bria Schirripa remembers the wild days without much sentimentality.—
Cindy Augustine,
CNN Money,
14 June 2025
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Its sentimentality could easily come across as maudlin, its structure too confusing to follow.—
Shirley Li,
The Atlantic,
12 June 2025
Noun
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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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The moment when Sean soothes Laszlo’s fears of losing his best human buddy by telling him that the fear of dying just makes every living moment more special — something else a centuries-old vampire wouldn’t understand — tiptoes right up to the edge of sentimentalism.—
Katie Rife,
Vulture,
19 Nov. 2024
Cite this Entry
“Sappiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sappiness. Accessed 9 Jul. 2025.
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