tear-jerker

/ ˈtɪəˌdʒɜːkə /

noun

1. informal.
   an excessively sentimental film, play, book, etc

Example Sentences

Set to Richard Ashcroft's 1990s track Sonnet, the ad is a "real tear-jerker" and suggests the retailer wanted to "return to its roots", analysts said.

From BBC

And he shows his students a 1935 Bette Davis tear-jerker called “Dangerous,” about an on-the-skids actress who wants to marry the kind man who restored her to health and talent.

From Los Angeles Times

The certified tear-jerker, with a reference to Monroe’s Woods Creek Road, was written for a close relative who died a few years ago, Boone explained from the stage, and made for one of the most potent moments of Friday’s show.

From Seattle Times

“Nowhere Special” is an unusual, and unusually understated, parental tear-jerker in which a father prepares for the loss of his young son.

From New York Times

Ryan O’Neal had his own best actor Oscar nomination for the 1970 tear-jerker drama “Love Story,” co-starring Ali MacGraw, about a young couple who fall in love, marry and discover she is dying of cancer.

From Washington Times

Related Words

• comedy
• farce
• melodrama
• play
• production
• scene
• show
• theater
• tragedy