saccharine

[sak-er-in, -uh-reen, -uh-rahyn]

adjective

1. of the nature of or resembling that of sugar.

   a powdery substance with a saccharine taste.

2. containing or yielding sugar.

3. very sweet to the taste; sugary.

   a saccharine dessert.

4. cloyingly agreeable or ingratiating.

   a saccharine personality.

5. exaggeratedly sweet or sentimental.

   a saccharine smile; a saccharine song of undying love.

saccharine

/ -ˌriːn, ˈsækəˌraɪn, ˌsækəˈrɪnɪtɪ /

adjective

1. excessively sweet; sugary

   a saccharine smile

2. of, relating to, of the nature of, or containing sugar or saccharin

Other Word Forms

• saccharinely adverb
• saccharinity noun
• nonsaccharine adjective
• nonsaccharinity noun
• unsaccharine adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of saccharine¹

First recorded in 1665–75; sacchar- + -ine ¹

Example Sentences

First, good on Mazzulla to straight-up treat the kid as the reporter he clearly is, and answer the question directly, without pandering or turning it into some sort of saccharine after-school special.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Written by William Ivory and directed by Oliver Parker, it’s a simple story, simply told — sweet, but not saccharine, and moving even when you know what’s coming.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

It began with the score’s hit, “A Simple Song,” Bernstein at his most tuneful, even saccharine.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In this occasionally saccharine yet blithely comical piece of rich-people-problems autofiction, Clooney is the funniest he’s been in years, taking shots at himself and the life he’s chosen with a marksman’s aim.

Read more on Salon

And though he’s undeniably quixotic, PTA’s relentless urgency consistently overrides the sticky trappings of saccharine sentimentality that would snare less ambitious filmmakers.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• cloying 
• sentimental 
• syrupy 
• twee