as in sentimentality
the state or quality of having an excess of tender feelings (as of love, nostalgia, or compassion) the novel's sentimentalism bored me

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of sentimentalism 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 King’s honeyed voiceover begins the film with a kind of sentimentalism about childhood and its innocence. Lisa Kennedy, Variety, 4 July 2024 The next few songs strand us on a mountaintop of sentimentalism, while subtly rebuking race and genre lines. Doreen St. Félix, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024 In its commitment to a particular kind of sentimentalism, No Hard Feelings doesn’t fully lean into the raunchiness some might expect from its trailer or early buzz. Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 June 2023 See All Example Sentences for sentimentalism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sentimentalism
sentimentality
Noun
  • Rotwood approvingly sees no such sentimentality in Wednesday.
    Jessica M. Goldstein, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2025
  • There's a time to think like a minimalist, and a time to let sentimentality win.
    Tessa Cooper, Southern Living, 19 Aug. 2025

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“Sentimentalism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sentimentalism. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

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