as in sentimentality
the state or quality of having an excess of tender feelings (as of love, nostalgia, or compassion)
the novel's sentimentalism bored me
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Recent Examples of sentimentalism
Wilde believed that, contrary to the claims of sentimentalism and of generations of prudish literary critics, the quality of a work of art does not depend on its ethical purity—that art depicting the degraded, the depraved, or the wicked can still be beautiful.
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Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 19 June 2023
The film retains its signature tone — moving between humor and sentimentalism with a light touch — but there’s a greater effort now to connect Miles’ origin story to broader lessons about superhero canons.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023
Rather than fuzzy-wuzzy sentimentalism, that liminal space between objective reality and the netherworld is presented as a natural, if exceedingly rare, fact of life.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2023
Thus, the pathos comes off as mere sentimentalism.
—Robyn Bahr, Billboard, 10 Sep. 2020
See all Example Sentences for sentimentalism 
Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 19 June 2023
The film retains its signature tone — moving between humor and sentimentalism with a light touch — but there’s a greater effort now to connect Miles’ origin story to broader lessons about superhero canons.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023
Rather than fuzzy-wuzzy sentimentalism, that liminal space between objective reality and the netherworld is presented as a natural, if exceedingly rare, fact of life.
—Ann Hornaday, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2023
Thus, the pathos comes off as mere sentimentalism.
—Robyn Bahr, Billboard, 10 Sep. 2020
See all Example Sentences for sentimentalism
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“Sentimentalism.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/sentimentalism. Accessed 31 Dec. 2024.
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