sentimental
Americanadjective
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expressive of or appealing to sentiment, especially the tender emotions and feelings, as love, pity, or nostalgia.
a sentimental song.
- Antonyms:
- dispassionate
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pertaining to or dependent on sentiment.
We kept the old photograph for purely sentimental reasons.
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weakly emotional; mawkishly susceptible or tender.
the sentimental Victorians.
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characterized by or showing sentiment or refined feeling.
- Antonyms:
- dispassionate
adjective
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tending to indulge the emotions excessively
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making a direct appeal to the emotions, esp to romantic feelings
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relating to or characterized by sentiment
Usage
What does sentimental mean? Sentimental means expressing, appealing to, or being moved by sensitive or tender emotions, such as love, nostalgia, or pity. The state or quality of being sentimental is sentimentality. Sentimental, sentimentality, and other related words (like sentimentalism, which can be used as a synonym of sentimentality) are based on the sense of the word sentiment that refers to sensitive or tender emotions, sensitivity to such emotions, or appeal to such emotions. Such terms are especially used to imply that these emotions are exaggerated or overindulged. Sometimes, they imply that these emotions get in the way of thinking logically or being realistic. People are sometimes criticized for being overly sentimental, as in Stop being so sentimental and looking at things through rose-colored glasses, instead of seeing what they’re really like. These kinds of criticisms are especially common in the context of art. For example, a book or film may be criticized as being overly sentimental in dealing with a historical event. This implies that it portrays the event in an idealized, simplistic, or nostalgic way instead of depicting it accurately and dealing with what really happened. Such works might also be described as melodramatic. When they’re tearfully or weakly emotional, they might be described as maudlin, mawkish, sappy, or weepy. Hallmark holiday movies are known for being sentimental. Things that are kept due to being associated with fond memories or loved ones are said to have sentimental value. Example: He’s so sentimental that he keeps all of his childhood toys.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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hypersentimentallyadverb
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semisentimentallyadverb
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hypersentimentaladjective
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quasi-sentimentaladjective
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unsentimentallyadverb
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semisentimentaladjective
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antisentimentaladjective
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oversentimentaladjective
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supersentimentallyadverb
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sentimentallyadverb
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antisentimentallyadverb
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quasi-sentimentallyadverb
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supersentimentaladjective
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oversentimentallyadverb
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intersentimentaladjective
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unsentimentaladjective
Etymology
Origin of sentimental
Explanation
Call a person sentimental if he or she is led more by emotions than by reason. If you have a sentimental attachment to a favorite stuffed animal, you'll probably even bring it to college with you. Sentimental describes a person who relies on emotions more than reason, or a novel or film that is overly emotional. Derived from the Latin verb, sentire "to feel," sentimental always implies that the emotions are involved a little too much. If you do something for sentimental reasons, you are only doing it because of an emotional attachment.
Vocabulary lists containing sentimental
Sickly Sweet Treats: Sappy and Insincere Valentine Words
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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
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"The Hunger Games" Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Sentimental Value was named best international feature, and director Joachim Trier joked: "I'm just a film nerd from Norway, this means so much."
From BBC • Mar. 16, 2026
Norwegian actress Renate Reinsve, nominated for Sentimental Value, has favoured Louis Vuitton throughout her awards season campaign.
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026
The best director nominees also include BAFTA-winner Yorgos Lanthimos for "Bugonia", Joachim Trier for "Sentimental Value" and Chloe Zhao -- who won an Oscar for "Nomadland" -- for "Hamnet".
From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026
She cites the example of Joachim Trier's "Sentimental Value", nominated for nine Oscars, which is a co-production between Norway, Denmark, France and Germany.
From Barron's • Feb. 10, 2026
Volume III, renamed Sentimental & Literary Magazine, only lasted through no.
From The New-York Weekly Magazine or Miscellaneous Repository by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
