as in sentimentalism
the state or quality of having an excess of tender feelings (as of love, nostalgia, or compassion)
the sentimentality of the story of star-crossed lovers only made it even more popular with moviegoers
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of sentimentality
Brie had it on the whole weekend, and Franco has kept it all these years out of sentimentality.
—
Erin Clack, People.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Alex Foxworth Alex Foxworth, originally from Greensboro, N.C., infuses her designs with sentimentality and appreciation for her family lineage.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 27 July 2025
What layer of sentimentality about the revolution to you is most dangerous to the true history or to the complexity of histories?
—CBS News, 4 July 2025
For those of us who were from northeast Ohio, maybe even Akron, there of course was a streak of sentimentality to have been there for LeBron’s crowning achievement, and for someone, literally anyone, to break the decades-long curse of Cleveland’s sports teams.
—David Aldridge, New York Times, 22 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for sentimentality
Erin Clack, People.com, 4 Aug. 2025
Alex Foxworth Alex Foxworth, originally from Greensboro, N.C., infuses her designs with sentimentality and appreciation for her family lineage.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 27 July 2025
What layer of sentimentality about the revolution to you is most dangerous to the true history or to the complexity of histories?
—CBS News, 4 July 2025
For those of us who were from northeast Ohio, maybe even Akron, there of course was a streak of sentimentality to have been there for LeBron’s crowning achievement, and for someone, literally anyone, to break the decades-long curse of Cleveland’s sports teams.
—David Aldridge, New York Times, 22 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for sentimentality
Recent Examples of Synonyms for sentimentality
sentimentalism
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
“Sentimentality.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sentimentality. Accessed 8 Sep. 2025.
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