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
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sappiness
Noun
-
Rotwood approvingly sees no such sentimentality in Wednesday.—
Jessica M. Goldstein,
Vulture,
3 Sep. 2025
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There's a time to think like a minimalist, and a time to let sentimentality win.—
Tessa Cooper,
Southern Living,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
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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
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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
Cite this Entry
“Sappiness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sappiness. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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