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.

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mushy British  

/ ˈmʌʃɪ /

adjective

1. soft and pulpy

2. informal excessively sentimental or emotional

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• mushiness
  noun
• mushily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• mushier
  comparative
• mushiest
  superlative

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Etymology

Origin of mushy

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

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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

The opening and closing of “The Uprising” are bracing and stark in their storytelling — the middle is a bit mushy and confusing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 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

Take care when combining the rice, lentils and pasta: The mix should be loose and textured, not mushy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 28, 2025

Colors are mushy and I don’t know where they end or what happens to them when they run into each other because they change.

From "Mockingbird" by Kathryn Erskine

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

With Rauch returning as director, “The Great Society” is a mushier piece, an only intermittently engaging portrait of a leader consumed by turbulent events beyond his abilities to master.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 1, 2019

Like many of Mr. Brice’s best songs, this one molts its masculine exterior to reveal a mushier core inside.

From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2014

“This snow feeling mushier to you? Wetter?” he asked.

From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz

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

What do they amount to, if not the mushiest of split-the-difference compromise?

From Time Magazine Archive

And THEN—THEN Anne became the mushiest thing I ever saw!

From Sisters by Kathleen Thompson Norris

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Related Words

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

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