verklempt
[ ver-klempt, vuh-, fer-, fuh- ]
/ vərˈklɛmpt, və-, fər-, fə- /
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adjective Informal.
overly emotional and unable to speak: She got all verklempt at a press conference talking about a charity that matches actors and musicians with sick kids.
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Also far·klempt [fer-klempt, fuh-] /fərˈklɛmpt, fə-/ .
Origin of verklempt
First recorded in 1990–95; from Yiddish verklempt, farklempt “overcome with emotion,” past participle of verklem(m)en, farklem(m)en “to clamp (in a vise), pinch, choke, choke up,” from German verklemmt “inhibited, uptight,” literally, “pinched, squeezed,” past participle of verklemmen “to become stuck”
Words nearby verklempt
vérité, verity, verjuice, Verkhne-Udinsk, Verkhoyansk Range, verklempt, verkrampte, Verlaine, verlan, verligte, Vermeer
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use verklempt in a sentence
I sobbed all the way through the ceremony, and the tears—happy, sad, just generally verklempt—kept flowing as I screened the two-hour finale that will air on June 6.
Pose Was More Than Just a TV Show. It Changed the Culture, Onscreen and Off|Judy Berman|June 3, 2021|TimeVerklempt parents, myself included, have put their children on school buses for the first time.
We sobbed in unison when Meryl Streep could barely talk about her husband without becoming visibly verklempt and touched.
The Most ‘WTF’ Oscar Moments Ever: Rob Lowe’s Duet with Snow White, Sacheen Littlefeather, and the Streaker|Kevin Fallon, Marlow Stern|February 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST