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schmaltz

[ shmahlts, shmawlts ]
/ ʃmɑlts, ʃmɔlts /
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See synonyms for schmaltz on Thesaurus.com
noun
Informal. exaggerated sentimentalism, as in music or soap operas.
liquid animal fat, especially of a chicken.
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Also schmalz . Sometimes shmaltz .

Origin of schmaltz

First recorded in 1930–35; from Yiddish shmalts or German Schmalz; cognate with smelt1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Words related to schmaltz

bathos, mawkishness, melodrama, mushiness, nostalgia, reminiscence, sentiment, sentimentalism, triteness, gushiness, maudlinism, melodramatics

How to use schmaltz in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for schmaltz

schmaltz

schmalz

/ (ʃmælts, ʃmɔːlts) /
noun
excessive sentimentality, esp in music
US animal fat used in cooking

Word Origin for schmaltz

C20: from German (Schmalz) and Yiddish: melted fat, from Old High German smalz
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
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