mawkish

adjective

mawk·ish ˈmȯ-kish How to pronounce mawkish (audio)

: lacking flavor or having an unpleasant taste

: exaggeratedly or childishly emotional

a mawkish love story

mawkish poetry

mawkishly adverb

mawkishness noun

Did you know?

The Squirming Origins of Mawkish

Mawkish really opens up a can of worms—or maggots, as it were: the word wriggled out from Middle English mawke, meaning “maggot.” Its earliest sense, used in the late 17th century but now obsolete, was synonymous with squeamish (understandable!) but not long after that mawkish was used to describe an unpleasant, nauseating, often sickeningly sweet flavor. It’s no surprise that a figurative sense of mawkish, used to describe things that are full of “sickly sweet” sentimentality, arose almost concurrently, one of several food texture- and taste-related words favored by critics to show disdain for art they deem overly emotive, including gooey, saccharine, mushy, and schmaltzy.

Example Sentences

a mawkish plea for donations to the charity

Recent Examples on the Web Goodness is difficult to depict without becoming mawkish, but Mr. Gurnah does it superbly.

Sam Sacks, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2022 And the inevitable reaffirmation of the family’s bonds, strengthened by the spirit of the girls’ mother, is touching without being too mawkish.

David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Aug. 2022 Sin City trash whiplashes with mawkish cute-kid sensitivity.

Darren Franich, EW.com, 3 Jan. 2022 But the show made the relationship between Deborah and Ava spiky and unpredictable, touching without ever being mawkish, and revealing about the ways both women had to adapt to a show business world that judges females harshly.

oregonlive, 23 Dec. 2021 This may sound mawkish—but how much of our inner life is first learned through music?

The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021 Even when the season slows down a bit, Sudeikis’ vulnerability is touching, without ever being mawkish.

oregonlive, 20 July 2021 In most hands, this business of the mother-figure who sacrifices all for a child would be mawkish.

Rumaan Alam, The New Republic, 12 Apr. 2021 And so much of what concerned me as important in the earlier pages of my diary now seems mawkish, trivial or beneath notice.

Paul Theroux, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2020 See More

单词	mawkish
释义	mawkish adjective mawk·ish ˈmȯ-kish 1 : lacking flavor or having an unpleasant taste 2 : exaggeratedly or childishly emotional a mawkish love story mawkish poetry mawkishly adverb mawkishness noun Did you know? The Squirming Origins of Mawkish Mawkish really opens up a can of worms—or maggots, as it were: the word wriggled out from Middle English mawke, meaning “maggot.” Its earliest sense, used in the late 17th century but now obsolete, was synonymous with squeamish (understandable!) but not long after that mawkish was used to describe an unpleasant, nauseating, often sickeningly sweet flavor. It’s no surprise that a figurative sense of mawkish, used to describe things that are full of “sickly sweet” sentimentality, arose almost concurrently, one of several food texture- and taste-related words favored by critics to show disdain for art they deem overly emotive, including gooey, saccharine, mushy, and schmaltzy. Synonyms chocolate-box cloying corny drippy fruity gooey lovey-dovey maudlin mushy novelettish saccharine sappy schmaltzy sentimental sloppy slushy soppy soupy spoony spooney sticky sugarcoated sugary wet See all Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences a mawkish plea for donations to the charity Recent Examples on the Web Goodness is difficult to depict without becoming mawkish, but Mr. Gurnah does it superbly. Sam Sacks, WSJ, 26 Aug. 2022 And the inevitable reaffirmation of the family’s bonds, strengthened by the spirit of the girls’ mother, is touching without being too mawkish. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 18 Aug. 2022 Sin City trash whiplashes with mawkish cute-kid sensitivity. Darren Franich, EW.com, 3 Jan. 2022 But the show made the relationship between Deborah and Ava spiky and unpredictable, touching without ever being mawkish, and revealing about the ways both women had to adapt to a show business world that judges females harshly. oregonlive, 23 Dec. 2021 This may sound mawkish—but how much of our inner life is first learned through music? The New Yorker, 6 Dec. 2021 Even when the season slows down a bit, Sudeikis’ vulnerability is touching, without ever being mawkish. oregonlive, 20 July 2021 In most hands, this business of the mother-figure who sacrifices all for a child would be mawkish. Rumaan Alam, The New Republic, 12 Apr. 2021 And so much of what concerned me as important in the earlier pages of my diary now seems mawkish, trivial or beneath notice. Paul Theroux, New York Times, 30 Mar. 2020 See More Word History Etymology Middle English mawke maggot, probably from Old Norse mathkr — more at maggot First Known Use circa 1697, in the meaning defined at sense 1 mawkish adjective as in sentimental appealing to the emotions in an obvious and tiresome way a mawkish plea for donations to the charity Synonyms & Similar Words Relevance sentimental sloppy sticky maudlin schmaltzy saccharine cloying sappy soppy corny wet fuzzy drippy mushy gooey sugary sugarcoated slushy spoony fruity soupy lovey-dovey chocolate-box melodramatic nostalgic spooney moony dreamy insipid novelettish vapid soapy moonstruck misty-eyed tasteless sudsy cutesy feel-good soap-operatic starry-eyed twee watery flat soft-boiled Antonyms & Near Antonyms unsentimental cynical unvarnished unadulterated hardheaded antisentimental hard-edged hard-boiled See More
随便看	bromic acid bromiccer bromiccest bromicer bromicest bromide bromide paper bromides bromidic bromidiom bromidism bromids brominate brominated brominates brominating bromination brominations bromine bromine water bromines brominisms brominize bromins bromise

mawkish

adjective

Did you know?

Synonyms

Example Sentences

Word History

adjective