sentimentalize

[ sen-tuh-men-tl-ahyz ]
See synonyms for sentimentalize on Thesaurus.com
verb (used without object),sen·ti·men·tal·ized, sen·ti·men·tal·iz·ing.
  1. to indulge in sentiment.

verb (used with object),sen·ti·men·tal·ized, sen·ti·men·tal·iz·ing.
  1. to view (someone or something) sentimentally: He sentimentalized the relationship until all real meaning was lost.

Origin of sentimentalize

1
First recorded in 1790–1800; sentimental + -ize
  • Also especially British, sen·ti·men·tal·ise .

Other words from sentimentalize

  • sen·ti·men·tal·i·za·tion, noun
  • sen·ti·men·tal·iz·er, noun
  • o·ver·sen·ti·men·tal·ize, verb, o·ver·sen·ti·men·tal·ized, o·ver·sen·ti·men·tal·iz·ing.
  • sem·i·sen·ti·men·tal·ized, adjective
  • un·sen·ti·men·tal·ized, adjective

Words Nearby sentimentalize

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use sentimentalize in a sentence

  • I am not going to sentimentalize over my copy, for how much of it have I read?

    A Window in Thrums | J. M. Barrie
  • To sentimentalize over a criminal—to "forgive" because of a glow of feeling—is to incur liability for production of criminals.

  • I have talked with no sensible person who proposes to sentimentalize over the law-breaker.

    Within Prison Walls | Thomas Mott Osborne
  • Then the white race began to sentimentalize over them, and sincere scientific people to deplore their evanescence.

    The Pacific Triangle | Sydney Greenbie
  • She was too much a child of the prairie to morbidly sentimentalize over the matter.

    The Night Riders | Ridgwell Cullum

British Dictionary definitions for sentimentalize

sentimentalize

sentimentalise

/ (ˌsɛntɪˈmɛntəˌlaɪz) /


verb
  1. to make sentimental or behave sentimentally

Derived forms of sentimentalize

  • sentimentalization or sentimentalisation, noun

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