Synonyms of sentimentalism

sentimentalism

noun

ˌsen-tə-ˈmen-tə-ˌli-zəm 

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sentimentality
• emotion
• mawkishness
• bathos
• soppiness
• sappiness
• syrup
• mushiness
• sloppiness
• sentiment
• gooeyness
• saccharinity
• mush
• lovey-doveyness
• schmaltz
• corn
• corniness
• hokeyness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cynicism
• hardheadedness
• hard-heartedness

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of sentimentalism

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

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