sentimentalsen‧ti‧ment‧al /ˌsentəˈmentl◂/ ●○○ adjective 
She said a sentimental goodbye.sentimental about People can be very sentimental about animals.2based on or relating to your feelings rather than on practical reasons: He wasn’t the sort of person who kept things for sentimental reasons. a sentimental journey to the place of his birth The rings that were stolen were of great sentimental value (=important because of your feelings or memories relating to them).3a story, film, book etc that is sentimental deals with emotions such as love and sadness, sometimes in a way that seems silly and insincere: a sentimental story set in Russia—sentimentally adverb
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- From the living room came the sound of a deep male voice singing a sentimental ballad.
- I quite enjoyed the movie but I thought the ending was a little sentimental.
- I suppose we get more sentimental as we grow older.
- My father became increasingly sentimental as he got older and his friends died off.
- Ramos admitted he was sentimental about his old school and was sad to see it torn down.
- Vladimir shook my hand and said a sentimental farewell.
- Westerberg writes unabashedly sentimental, romantic lyrics.
- A little goes a long way; too much is unbearably sentimental.
- Anti-whalers are denounced as sentimental.
- Bill's loyalty to his apprentice had been ill rewarded this evening and no trainer could afford to be sentimental.
- Employing only a cool curiosity, she had defended herself from sentimental pretences.
- He is hardly a sentimental sap who is prone to vicarious patriotism.
- It is the opinion of a sentimental tourist that no price would be too great to pay, the novelist declared.
- This is fashionably dismissed as a sentimental modern aberration, but it is how I read the figure.
- Who wanted to get sentimental while eating?
THESAURUScausing strong feelings
causing people to have strong feelings – used especially about experiences, speeches, or subjects that people have strong feelings about: · Returning home after a year in hospital was an emotional experience for Katy.· He gave an emotional speech at the funeral.· It was a very emotional moment.· Abortion rights is a highly emotional issue.
used about issues or language that make people have strong feelings: · Fox hunting is a very emotive issue in Britain.· ‘Indoctrination’ is rather an emotive word.
making you feel strong feelings of sadness or sympathy: · Kelly’s book about her illness is deeply moving.· a moving film
making you feel slightly emotional – used especially when someone does something that shows how much they care about another person: · Your loyalty is very touching.· My son phoned me to wish me good luck, which was a touching gesture.
making you feel strong feelings of sadness or pity, especially when you remember something in the past: · Her youthful expression is a poignant reminder of the passing of time.
(also schmaltzy) informal dealing with emotions such as love and sadness in a way that seems silly: · He found the film too sentimental.· a schmaltzy comedy
Longman Language Activatora story, film, song etc that is full of feelings of love or sadness dealing with emotions such as love and sadness in a way that seems silly and insincere: · I quite enjoyed the movie but I thought the ending was a little sentimental.· From the living room came the sound of a deep male voice singing a sentimental ballad.
informal a song, poem etc that is soppy seems silly to people because it expresses feelings of love and sympathy too strongly but in a way that does not seem serious: · She never tired of listening to soppy love songs.· I couldn't think of anything else so I just bought her a soppy card and some flowers.
informal a story, play, film etc that is intended to make people feel sad and cry: · His latest movie is a typical Hollywood tearjerker.
too easily influenced by emotions someone who is sentimental is too easily affected by emotions such as sympathy, love, or sadness: · My father became increasingly sentimental as he got older and his friends died off.sentimental about: · Ramos admitted he was sentimental about his old school and was sad to see it torn down.
a tendency to become emotional and to enjoy feelings such as sadness, sympathy, and self-pity, especially in a way that other people think is silly: · The film is flawed by moments of melodrama and sentimentality.· He talked about his homeland with all the sentimentality of an expatriate.sentimentality about: · He has no sentimentality about firing unproductive employees, even those who have worked for the company for years.
informal someone who is soppy seems silly to other people, because they express feelings of love or sympathy too strongly: · After a few drinks, he got all soppy and started talking about the "good old days'.soppy about: · I was heartbroken when our dog died but I was determined not to be soppy about it.
British informal expressing your love for someone, especially a baby, in a way that other people think is silly: · Babies make her go all gooey.
informal someone who becomes very excited, upset, or angry about things that are not important, especially in order to make people notice them or feel sympathy for them: · Stop being such a drama queen! It's not the end of the world!
WORD SETSaesthete, nounagitprop, nounart gallery, nounartist, nounartwork, nounavant-garde, adjectivebaroque, adjectivecapture, verbceramics, nouncharacter, nounclassical, adjectiveclassicism, nouncompere, nouncontemporary, adjectiveconvention, nouncreative, adjectivecritical, adjectivecrossover, nouncubism, nouncultural, adjectiveculturally, adverbculture, nouncurator, nouncycle, noundrama, nouneisteddfod, nounepic, nouneponymous, adjectiveerotic, adjectiveerotica, nouneroticism, nounexhibit, verbexhibit, nounexhibition, nounexpress, verbexpression, nounexpressionism, nounextract, nounfictionalize, verbfigurine, nounfin de siècle, adjectiveflashback, nounformalism, nounfuturism, nounglaze, verbglaze, nounGothic, adjectivehandcrafted, adjectivehandicraft, nounhandmade, adjectivehigh priest, nounhistorical, adjectiveinterpretation, nounItalianate, adjectivelowbrow, adjectivemagnum opus, nounmarquetry, nounmasterpiece, nounmasterwork, nounmature, adjectivemedium, nounMFA, nounmiddlebrow, adjectiveminimalism, nounmotif, nounmuse, nounnarrator, nounnaturalism, nounneoclassical, adjectivenotice, nounoeuvre, nounoffering, nounopening, adjectiveopus, nounpan, verbparody, nounpastiche, nounpattern, nounpiece, nounpop art, nounportfolio, nounpostmodernism, nounprequel, nounpreview, nounproduce, verbproduction, nounrealism, nounrealistic, adjectiverehash, verbreview, nounreview, verbromantic, nounromanticism, nounroyalty, nounrubbish, nounsalon, nounscenario, nounscene, nounsensuous, adjectivesentimental, adjectivesequel, nounsequence, nounset piece, nounsetting, nounShakespearean, adjectiveshowing, nounskit, nounstory, nounstudio, nounstylistic, adjectivesurrealism, nounswansong, nounsynopsis, nountitle, nountrilogy, nountwo-dimensional, adjectiveuncut, adjectiveunexpurgated, adjectivevillain, nounwork, nounwork of art, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY He wasn’t the sort of person who kept things for sentimental reasons. a sentimental journey to the place of his birth The rings that were stolen were of great sentimental value (=important because of your feelings or memories relating to them).COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
He wasn’t the sort of person who kept things for sentimental reasons. a sentimental journey to the place of his birth The rings that were stolen were of great sentimental value (=important because of your feelings or memories relating to them). (=about emotions such as love and sadness)· The film is one of those tearful sentimental comedies.
(=because you like someone or something very much)· I wanted to keep the picture for sentimental reasons.
(=important because it was a gift, reminds you of someone etc)· The ring wasn’t expensive but had great sentimental value.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Or as I see it, more sentimental.· I suppose we get more sentimental as we grow older.
NOUN· As Big showed, Penny Marshall's strength is sentimental comedy.· These moral essays advanced other theories in harmony with sentimental comedy.· The same posturing and gesturing, typical of sentimental comedy, is found in La conjuracion de Venecia.· If Nivelle de la Chaussee was the great playwright of sentimental comedy, then Denise Diderot was the great theorist.· In its subordination of character to plot, sentimental comedy moves in the direction of Romantic drama.· Several of these sentimental comedies were imitations of El delincuente honrado.· Perhaps the most innovative aspect of the sentimental comedy is that it represented a new form of tragi-comedy.· Their use many centuries later in sentimental comedy or bourgeois tragedy was purely artificial.
· Yet the memoirs of these survivors, their dirge, is rarely inscribed in the chroniclers' sentimental journeys.· They would return home from these sentimental journeys reconfirmed in their Americanism.· The sentimental journey began at Euston.
· Richard did not accumulate objects for sentimental reasons.· Walt Disney could have had sentimental reason to consider northeastern Lake.· Apart from any sentimental reasons, the short-notice drove many to despair.· I went back later and took out all the pictures for sentimental reasons.· I let him keep young ones for sentimental reasons since I don't need them for practical purposes.· I saw ffeatherstonehaugh's as a young man's club, and kept up my subscription purely for sentimental reasons.· Yet the shares have been hammered for little more than sentimental reasons.· For largely sentimental reasons I have usually voted Liberal.
· The sentimental value of her lockets, chains, rings, heirlooms was not appreciated by the insurance company.· She also lost several pieces of jewellery which were of sentimental value.· It is of considerable sentimental value and Mr Moorcock wonders if he lost it that night and if you had found it.· Small items of both financial and sentimental value should never be left in the house unless a good safe has been installed.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
1someone who is sentimental is easily affected by emotions such as love, sympathy, sadness etc, often in a way that seems silly to other people: - Before waxing lyrical about types of communication we need firstly to appreciate the uniqueness of the hotel environment.
- In the pub, beer glass in hand, he waxed lyrical about how he would spend his earnings.
- Marie Claire devoted last October's issue to the disease, and carried photos of topless celebrities waxing lyrical about their assets.
- Only don't wax sentimental over their hospitality, just thinking of it gives me indigestion.
- Second, it was the theological uses of mathematics on which Bacon waxed eloquent.
- They waxed lyrical on the virtues of introducing business-like methods and improving resource management.
- You're waxing lyrical about the M25 and the hopelessness of building more roads.
- You didn't even wax lyrical about the incredibly romantic island we could see from the cliff-top at the cape.
She said a sentimental goodbye.sentimental about People can be very sentimental about animals.2based on or relating to your feelings rather than on practical reasons: He wasn’t the sort of person who kept things for sentimental reasons. a sentimental journey to the place of his birth The rings that were stolen were of great sentimental value (=important because of your feelings or memories relating to them).3a story, film, book etc that is sentimental deals with emotions such as love and sadness, sometimes in a way that seems silly and insincere: a sentimental story set in Russia—sentimentally adverb