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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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
See All Example Sentences for sentimentalism
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
See All Example Sentences for sentimentalism
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sentimentalism
sentimentality
Noun
-
Traditionally cynical and perceptive commentators—not to mention a lot of tired citizens—found themselves, in some accounts, overcome by an unexpected wave of patriotic sentimentality that washed away, at least for a moment, their gnawing doubts.
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The second half, which dips into profundity and sentimentality while not always hitting the mark per Ryan, will be a harder sell for the audience that the film‘s opening sequences (and its marketing) attracts.
Cite this Entry
“Sentimentalism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sentimentalism. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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