tearjerker

[teer-jur-ker]

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noun Informal.

a pathetic story, play, movie, or the like; an excessively sentimental tale.

Origin of tearjerker

First recorded in 1930–35; tear¹ + jerk¹ + -er¹

Related formstear·jerk·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for tear-jerker

longing, sentimentality, remorse, yearning, wistfulness, play, theater, farce, show, scene, production, comedy, tragedy, melodrama, homesickness, reminiscence, schmaltz, pining, story, novel

British Dictionary definitions for tear-jerker

tear-jerker

noun

informal an excessively sentimental film, play, book, etc

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

Word Origin and History for tear-jerker

1911, in reference to newspaper stories about tragic situations, on model of soda-jerker and perhaps especially beer-jerker, from tear (n.1) + jerk (v.).