chocolate-box

[ chaw-kuh-lit-boks, chok-uh-, chawk-lit-, chok- ]

adjective

1. excessively decorative and sentimental, as the pictures or designs on some boxes of chocolate candy; prettified:

   decorous, chocolate-box paintings of Victorian garden parties.

chocolate-box

noun

1. informal.
   modifier sentimentally pretty or appealing

Word History and Origins

Origin of chocolate-box¹

First recorded in 1890–95

Example Sentences

Her parents commissioned society artist Philip de László to paint a chocolate-box portrait of their daughter, whom the painter described as "a most intelligent and beautiful little girl... she is enormously popular and... at present looked upon as the future Queen of Great Britain."

From BBC

Like all Merchant-Ivory efforts, “A Room with a View” is perfectly cast; a chocolate-box of pleasures.

From Seattle Times

But if it’s verdant folds, chocolate-box villages and a taste of eternal England that you want, try East Kent, about an hour on the train from London.

From Washington Post

“It’s very much part of the book, and I hope I’ve retained some of the Dickens chocolate-box warmth about that spooky element.”

From New York Times

Costumed and set-dressed to the hilt in frills, ribbons and colour-saturated velvet – it won an Oscar for its art direction – it looks a chocolate-box treat but is dramatically statelier and less emotionally immediate than its predecessor.

From The Guardian