emotionalism

[ih-moh-shuh-nl-iz-uhm]

noun

1. excessively emotional character.

   the emotionalism of sentimental fiction.

2. strong or excessive appeal to the emotions.

   the emotionalism of patriotic propaganda.

3. a tendency to display or respond with undue emotion, especially morbid emotion.

4. unwarranted expression or display of emotion.

emotionalism

/ ɪˈməʊʃənəˌlɪzəm /

noun

1. emotional nature, character, or quality

2. a tendency to yield readily to the emotions

3. an appeal to the emotions, esp an excessive appeal, as to an audience

4. a doctrine stressing the value of deeply felt responses in ethics and the arts

Other Word Forms

• nonemotionalism noun
• emotionalist noun
• emotionalistic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of emotionalism¹

First recorded in 1860–65; emotional + -ism

Example Sentences

The Los Angeles Times ran a particularly snarky article around the time of the 1943 concert that dismissed the singer as “an opium of emotionalism.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

His two originals, “Cleopatra” and especially “Lucy & Dixie,” have the all-caps emotionalism of the local post-rock veterans Explosions in the Sky.

Read more on New York Times

A love story and a ghost story, it marries sly conceptual daring and fearless emotionalism with masterly assurance.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Woo’s films, and this one is no exception, are also characterized by an over-the-top emotionalism that amplifies all feelings to mythological status.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It is based not just on extreme authority and emotionalism, but a cultivation and worship of the Irrational.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• attitude 
• bias 
• feeling 
• idea 
• opinion 
• passion 
• position 
• tendency 
• thought 
• view