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mawkishness

[maw-kish]

adjective

characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional; maudlin.

having a mildly sickening flavor; slightly nauseating.

Origin:
1660–70; obsolete mawk maggot (late Middle English < Old Norse mathkr maggot) + -ish¹. See maggot

Related forms

mawk·ish·ly, adverb

mawk·ish·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. sentimental, teary.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Mawkishness is always a great word to know.

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a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

a fool or simpleton; ninny.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

mawkish (ˈmɔːkɪʃ)

—*adj*
1.	falsely sentimental, esp in a weak or maudlin way
2.	nauseating or insipid in flavour, smell, etc

[C17: from obsolete mawkmaggot + -ish]

'mawkishly

—*adv*

'mawkishness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Related Words

bathos emotionalism

emotionalism

Matching Quote

"The imagination of a boy is healthy, and the mature imagination of a man is healthy; but there is a space of life between, in which the soul is in a ferment, the character undecided, the way of life uncertain, the ambition thick-sighted: thence proceeds mawkishness."

-John Keats

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