mawkish

[ maw-kish ]

/ ˈmɔ kɪʃ /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR mawkish ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

characterized by sickly sentimentality; weakly emotional; maudlin.

having a mildly sickening flavor; slightly nauseating.

Words nearby mawkish

mavourneen, mavun, maw, mawger, mawkin, mawkish, mawlamyine, mawlid, mawson, max, max müller

Origin of mawkish

1660–70; obsolete mawk maggot (late Middle English < Old Norse mathkr maggot) + -ish¹. See maggot

SYNONYMS FOR mawkish

1 sentimental, teary.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR mawkish ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM mawkish

mawk·ish·ly, adverbmawk·ish·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for mawkishness

In this expectancy of death there is no mawkishness, no pose.
Comrade Kropotkin|Victor Robinson
There is nothing in it of the mawkishness of Kelly nor of the pompous affectation of Cumberland.
Their Majesties' Servants (Volume 2 of 3)|John Doran
If you deny them to the latter, all you get is poverty of ideas, and morbidity, and mawkishness.
Memoirs of Arthur Hamilton, B. A. Of Trinity College, Cambridge|Arthur Christopher Benson
The ladies, watching him, seemed by their eyes to condone the mawkishness of the demonstration which had tempted him.
The Market-Place|Harold Frederic

Nor is there any mawkishness or cheap surface sentimentality in it all.
Library Of The World's Best Literature, Ancient And Modern, Vol 4|Charles Dudley Warner

British Dictionary definitions for mawkishness

mawkish

/ (ˈmɔːkɪʃ) /

adjective

falsely sentimental, esp in a weak or maudlin way

nauseating or insipid in flavour, smell, etc

Derived forms of mawkish

mawkishly, adverbmawkishness, noun

Word Origin for mawkish

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

mawkish

adjective

Words related to mawkish

Words nearby mawkish

Origin of mawkish

SYNONYMS FOR mawkish

OTHER WORDS FROM mawkish

Examples from the Web for mawkishness

British Dictionary definitions for mawkishness

adjective

Derived forms of mawkish

Word Origin for mawkish