mushy

American  

[muhsh-ee, moosh-ee] / ˈmʌʃ i, ˈmʊʃ i /

adjective

• mushier,
  comparative
• mushiest
  superlative

1. resembling mush; pulpy.

2. Informal. overly emotional or sentimental.

   mushy love letters.

---

mushy British  

/ ˈmʌʃɪ /

adjective

1. soft and pulpy

2. informal excessively sentimental or emotional

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mushiness
  noun
• mushily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• mushier
  comparative
• mushiest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of mushy

First recorded in 1830–40; mush ¹ + -y ¹

Explanation

You might use the adjective mushy to describe an overripe banana or a tear-jerker of a commercial. Either way, it describes something soft. Mushy is a good word for talking about something that's doughy or pulpy, whether it's a hunk of modeling clay or your out-of-shape belly. Another way to use mushy is to mean sticky and sentimental, like a mushy love scene in a terrible movie or a mushy greeting card. Either way, the word comes from mush, or porridge, which originated from mash, or "soft mixture."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

mushy mushier mushiest

Charismatic and volatile, Shakur delivered intricately knotted verses—seductive then somber, mushy then menacing—in a voice scuffed by carton-loads of Newports.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

But over the years, the mushy yellow-brown legumes "became an acquired taste like a strong cheese can, because you know how cheese can smell like dirty socks," the 47-year-old Arizonan said.

From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026

Fans could buy stuffed toy versions of items like fish, chips and mushy peas at a temporary shop at the department store Selfridges in London.

From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2026

Day-old cider doughnuts are your secret weapon—they’ve got just enough dryness to soak up cream without turning mushy.

From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2025

In summer the road here would have been sketchy but pass-able; now it was made unnavigable by a foot and a half of mushy spring snow.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

The dope is dopey, and it’s unfortunately only a foray into mushier territory.

From Salon ● Aug. 12, 2026

The face buttons are also quite small but tactile and clicky, while the D-pad is accurate enough despite being a little mushier than I’d prefer.

From The Verge ● Jan. 21, 2022

Fluctuating temperatures result in growth of ice crystals, further damaging cells and creating a mushier product.

From Washington Post ● May 13, 2020

But support was mushier across party lines, according to the poll.

From New York Times ● Oct. 18, 2019

Those “unnatural” feeds make chickens with mushier and blander meat.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan

They seem as withdrawn as Simon, not wanting to call attention to themselves with anything but the mushiest phrases and most reticent rhymes — a timidity that lets the ear write them off as unimportant.

From New York Times ● Mar. 1, 2019

If you’re tuned in to Stevie’s sonic language, his mushiest moments harbor myriad possibilities.

From Slate ● Dec. 18, 2016

And at Sunday night’s 57th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, the proceedings didn’t feel like a singalong trophy contest so much as a race to pop music’s mushiest, most self-important middle.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 8, 2015

Last week one of the chilliest, dreariest; mushiest winters in years was refusing to let go.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was about the mushiest performance I ever see.

From Side-stepping with Shorty by Sewell Ford

Related Words

• maudlin
• sentimental
• sugary
• syrupy
• weepy
• wet