Definition

1. Noun:
   • Excessively sentimental or emotional quality: The state or characteristic of being overly emotional in a way that is considered insincere, weak, or mawkish.
   • The physical property of being soft and drippy: The condition of a substance being so soft, liquid, or unformed that it tends to drip or flow.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Sentimental Quality):
  • The movie's drippiness made it hard to take the romance seriously.
  • He criticized the novel for its sentimental drippiness.
• Noun (Physical Property):
  • The drippiness of the ice cream made it messy to eat.
  • The recipe failed due to the batter's excessive drippiness.

Advanced Usage

• Used to critique art or expression: Often used pejoratively to describe creative works (books, films, music) that are perceived as cloyingly sentimental.
  • The critic dismissed the song's lyrics as pure drippiness.
• Describing consistency in cooking or science: Used in technical or informal contexts to describe an undesirable, overly liquid state.
  • Adjust the flour to correct the dough's drippiness.

Variants and Related Words

• Drip (n/v): A drop of liquid; to fall in drops. (e.g., )
• Drippy (adj): 1. Tending to drip. 2. Excessively sentimental. (e.g., )
• Dripping (n/adj/adv): 1. Fat rendered from meat. 2. Extremely wet. 3. Very wetly. (e.g., )

Synonyms

• Sentimental Quality: Mawkishness, mushiness, schmaltz, corniness, sappiness.
• Physical Property: Runnyness, liquidity, fluidity, softness.

Antonyms

• Sentimental Quality: Austerity, hardness, cynicism, unsentimentality.
• Physical Property: Firmness, solidity, thickness, viscosity.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• Dripping with sentiment/schmaltz: Overflowing with excessive, often insincere, emotion.
  • The farewell speech was dripping with sentiment.
• (To be) a drip (Idiom, Slang): To be a boring, weak, or ineffectual person. (Note: This is a related idiom for the base word "drip," not "drippiness" itself).
  • Don't be such a drip; come and join the fun.

Noun

1. falsely emotional in a maudlin way
2. the physical property of being soft and drippy