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mawkish

[maw-kish]
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adjective
  1. characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional; maudlin.
  2. having a mildly sickening flavor; slightly nauseating.
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Origin of mawkish

1660–70; obsolete mawk maggot (late Middle English < Old Norse mathkr maggot) + -ish1. See maggot
Related formsmawk·ish·ly, adverbmawk·ish·ness, noun

Synonyms

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1. sentimental, teary.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mawkish

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • What a fool, what a weak, mawkish, insipid fool he had made of himself!

    Spring Street

    James H. Richardson

  • For mawkish, sentimental religion the Count had an honest contempt.

  • There was no mawkish sentiment—no melancholy in his make-up.

    Robert Toombs

    Pleasant A. Stovall

  • It's all splendid and barbaric; no mawkish sentiment about it.

    Peking Dust

    Ellen N. La Motte

  • This is no time for trifling, nor for mawkish sentimentality.

    Theft

    Jack London

British Dictionary definitions for mawkish

mawkish

adjective
  1. falsely sentimental, esp in a weak or maudlin way
  2. nauseating or insipid in flavour, smell, etc
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Derived Formsmawkishly, adverbmawkishness, noun

Word Origin

C17: from obsolete mawk maggot + -ish
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for mawkish

adj.

1660s, "sickly, nauseated," from Middle English mawke "maggot" (see maggot). Sense of "sickly sentimental" is first recorded 1702. Related: Mawkishly; mawkishness.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper