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.

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Question 1 of 10
advocate
to give up possession or occupancy of.
to speak or write in favor of; support or urge by argument; recommend publicly.
to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence.
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Origin of mawkish

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

OTHER WORDS FROM mawkish

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

Words nearby mawkish

mavourneen, mavun, maw, mawger, mawkin, mawkish, mawlamyine, mawlid, mawson, max, max müller
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Words related to mawkishness

sentimentalism, sentiment, mushiness, reminiscence, nostalgia, bathos, triteness, melodrama

Example sentences from the Web for mawkishness

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