tear-jerker
Britishnoun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She said the latter book was a tear-jerker but a childhood favourite, which she recently shared with her husband, John Playfair.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
They could even create different endings for different kinds of fan: a happy ending for the romantics and a tear-jerker for those who appreciate a good tragedy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
It’s the kind of deliciously painful tear-jerker that’s hard to write and even harder to believably pull off, but it’s also not surprising that this particular pairing will break your heart so beautifully.
From Salon ● Sep. 2, 2025
“Nowhere Special” is an unusual, and unusually understated, parental tear-jerker in which a father prepares for the loss of his young son.
From New York Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
"All right," I muttered savagely, "let's go and get a tear-jerker to write!"
From The Harbor by Ernest Poole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
