sentimentalism

/,senti'mentəlizm/

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Thân thiện

A person looks at an old photograph with sentimentalism.

Definition

Noun:
- A tendency to indulge in or favor sentimentality: "Sentimentalism" refers to a preference for or inclination toward emotional responses, particularly those involving tender feelings, nostalgia, or sadness, often perceived as excessive or superficial.
- The excessive expression of tender feelings, nostalgia, or sadness in any form: It denotes the quality or practice of expressing emotions in a way that is considered overly demonstrative, mawkish, or lacking in restraint or genuine depth.

Usage Examples

Noun:
- The novel's sentimentalism appealed to readers who enjoyed its heartfelt, if somewhat clichéd, portrayal of lost love.
- Critics dismissed the film's ending as pure sentimentalism, arguing it manipulated the audience's emotions without narrative justification.
- His writing avoids sentimentalism, favoring a more detached and analytical style.

Advanced Usage

As a critical term: Often used in literary, artistic, or cultural criticism to describe work perceived as excessively emotional or designed to elicit a cheap emotional response.
- The director was accused of sentimentalism for using a score of melancholic music over every poignant scene.
In philosophical or historical contexts: Can refer to an 18th-century philosophical trend that emphasized feeling as a source of moral knowledge, though this is a more specialized usage.
- The philosopher's work was influenced by the sentimentalism of the era, which valued innate moral sentiment.

Variants and Related Words

Sentimental (adj): Characterized by, expressing, or appealing to tender, nostalgic, or sad emotions, sometimes excessively so.
- She kept a sentimental attachment to her childhood toys.
Sentimentality (n): The quality of being sentimental. This is a close synonym, though "sentimentalism" can more specifically imply a doctrine, tendency, or habitual practice.
- The sentimentality of the greeting card made him roll his eyes.
Sentimentalist (n): A person who is given to sentimentalism.
- He was a hopeless sentimentalist, always getting teary-eyed at old photographs.

Synonyms

Mawkishness: Excessive sentimentality, often to the point of being sickly or insincere.
Schmaltz (informal): Excessive sentimentality, especially in music or writing.
Corniness (informal): Trite, simplistic, or mawkishly sentimental quality.

Antonyms

Cynicism: An attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, often distrusting or dismissing sincere human motives.
Stoicism: The endurance of pain or hardship without the display of feelings or complaint.
Objectivity: Judgment based on observable phenomena and uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices.

Idioms and Phrases

A streak of sentimentalism: Used to describe a persistent tendency in a person's character to be sentimental.
- Beneath his tough exterior, he had a streak of sentimentalism when it came to his family.

A person looks at an old photograph with sentimentalism.

Noun