maudlin
Americanadjective
-
tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental.
a maudlin story of a little orphan and her lost dog.
-
foolishly or mawkishly sentimental because of drunkenness.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- maudlinism noun
- maudlinly adverb
- maudlinness noun
- unmaudlin adjective
- unmaudlinly adverb
Etymology
Origin of maudlin
1500–10; special use of Maudlin, Middle English Maudelen ≪ Late Latin Magdalēnē < Greek Magdalēnḗ Mary Magdalene, portrayed in art as a weeping penitent
Explanation
You can use maudlin to describe something that brings tears to your eyes, or makes you feel very emotional. Tearjerkers like "Forrest Gump" and "Titanic" can be described as maudlin. Maudlin was a form of the name Mary Magdalene, a character from the Bible represented in paintings as a weeping sinner asking forgiveness from Jesus. Maudlin is often paired with sentimental, or even schlocky, to describe cry-fests, as in "I can't watch another second of that overly-sentimental, maudlin soap opera. Turn that schlock off."
Vocabulary lists containing maudlin
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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.
Ms. Schilinski roams in and out of all the impressions and recollections, most of them stained by sadness and regret, without turning maudlin or melodramatic.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
Played as a maudlin admission that she’s a fallen woman, this scene would doom the play to a dusty footnote in O’Neill’s oeuvre.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 14, 2025
It wouldn’t be surprising to hear that when Aster catches himself getting maudlin, he forces himself to actively wallow in self-pity until it feels like a joke.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 17, 2025
And their “don’t waste a second of life” attitude never feels maudlin.
From Salon • Feb. 3, 2025
He enjoyed listening to Nately, whose maudlin, bittersweet lamentations mirrored much of his own romantic desolation and never failed to evoke in him resurgent tides of longing for his wife and children.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
