sentimental

[ sen-tuh-men-tl ]

adjective

1. expressive of or appealing to sentiment, especially the tender emotions and feelings, as love, pity, or nostalgia:

   a sentimental song.

   Synonyms: bathetic, maudlin, nostalgic, tender, romantic

   Antonyms: dispassionate

2. pertaining to or dependent on sentiment:

   We kept the old photograph for purely sentimental reasons.

3. weakly emotional; mawkishly susceptible or tender:

   the sentimental Victorians.

4. characterized by or showing sentiment or refined feeling.

   Antonyms: dispassionate

sentimental

/ ˌsɛntɪˈmɛntəl /

adjective

1. tending to indulge the emotions excessively
2. making a direct appeal to the emotions, esp to romantic feelings
3. relating to or characterized by sentiment

Derived Forms

• ˌsentiˈmentally, adverb

Other Words From

• senti·mental·ly adverb
• anti·senti·mental adjective
• anti·senti·mental·ly adverb
• hyper·senti·mental adjective
• hyper·senti·mental·ly adverb
• inter·senti·mental adjective
• over·senti·mental adjective
• over·senti·mental·ly adverb
• quasi-senti·mental adjective
• quasi-senti·mental·ly adverb
• semi·senti·mental adjective
• semi·senti·mental·ly adverb
• super·senti·mental adjective
• super·senti·mental·ly adverb
• unsen·ti·mental adjective
• unsen·ti·mental·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of sentimental¹

First recorded in 1740–50; sentiment + -al ¹

Example Sentences

I’m buying this, and it’s very sentimental to me now.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s perfectly fine — consistently amusing, sometimes funny, basically sweet, a little sentimental in the finish.

From Los Angeles Times

She added: "I'm angry because a cemetery is a very precious place with a lot of sentimental items, and a lot of people that were loved and the fact there are no cameras to protect such precious places is crazy."

From BBC

She visited the site of the house on Thursday afternoon for the first time with a shovel in her hand, sifting through the smoldering ashes looking for anything of sentimental interest.

From Los Angeles Times

The next day, the shellshocked parents struggled to come to grips with the financial toll of the incident and the catastrophic sentimental loss.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• affectionate
• corny
• dreamy
• idealistic
• maudlin
• mushy
• nostalgic
• passionate
• saccharine
• sappy
• silly
• sweet
• tender
• touching
• weepy