EN

Synonyms for sentimental

  • adjective

Most common

emotional maudlin mawkish sappy

All synonyms

Adjective

1. Emotional

emotional, maudlin, mawkish, sappy, schmaltzy, soppy informal, kitschy, mushy, hokey informal US, drippy informal, soupy, slushy, bathetic, syrupy, gooey informal, oversentimental

Other

romantic, tender, lackadaisical, gushing

Antonyms

unsentimental, practical, realistic

All antonyms of sentimental →

Definitions

  1. adj. 1

    Characterized by sentiment, sentimentality or excess emotion; appealing to the emotions (especially tender emotions) rather than reason, morality, aesthetic taste, etc.

Related words

Word family
sentimentalisation sentimentalism sentimentalist sentimentality sentimentalize sentimentally

Choose the right word

or Sentimental?

Sentimental usually describes an error or excess of the sensibilities; romantic, a vice of the imagination.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Example sentences

  • emotional Human beings are emotional creatures, so to speak.
  • maudlin Tom always gets maudlin when he's on the booze.
  • romantic This Italian restaurant has a romantic atmosphere.
  • tender It was put out to tender, and an Italian firm won.

Popularity over time

Word1850 → 2019Trend
sentimentalsteady
emotionalrising
sappyrising
maudlinrising
mawkishsteady
romanticrising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

5 letters
mushy2, gooey2, sappy, hokey2, soppy2, soupy2
6 letters
tender2, slushy, syrupy, drippy
7 letters
gushing2, maudlin2, kitschy, mawkish2
8 letters
romantic3, bathetic
9 letters
emotional4, schmaltzy
13 letters
lackadaisical5
15 letters
oversentimental

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (mushy2 = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français
sentimental
Italiano
sentimentale
Español
sentimental
Deutsch
sentimental