saccharine

[ sak-er-in, -uh-reen, -uh-rahyn ]

adjective

1. of the nature of or resembling that of sugar:

   a powdery substance with a saccharine taste.

2. containing or yielding sugar.
3. very sweet to the taste; sugary:

   a saccharine dessert.

4. cloyingly agreeable or ingratiating:

   a saccharine personality.

5. exaggeratedly sweet or sentimental:

   a saccharine smile; a saccharine song of undying love.

saccharine

/ ˌsækəˈrɪnɪtɪ; -ˌriːn; ˈsækəˌraɪn /

adjective

1. excessively sweet; sugary

   a saccharine smile

2. of, relating to, of the nature of, or containing sugar or saccharin

Derived Forms

• ˈsaccharinely, adverb
• saccharinity, noun

Other Words From

• saccha·rine·ly adverb
• sac·cha·rin·i·ty [sak-, uh, -, rin, -i-tee], noun
• non·saccha·rine adjective noun
• nonsac·cha·rini·ty noun
• un·saccha·rine adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of saccharine¹

First recorded in 1665–75; sacchar- + -ine ¹

Example Sentences

Especially now that Ted has charmed all the characters who used to be his foils, the tension-less lovefest has veered from sweet to saccharine.

From The Daily Beast

The term “family” has come to mean “for kids,” which has come to signify something trite, manipulative and saccharine.

From Washington Post

What they came up with instead is a modest, lighthearted, comfortingly familiar show that feels more current and less saccharine than most similar Disney titles.

From Time

Called saccharine, it was popularized initially during sugar shortages caused by the first World War and gained traction during the health crazes of the sixties and seventies.

From TechCrunch

After the cyclamate ban, Tab was forced to reformulate and ended up deciding to use saccharine as its primary sweetener.

From No Straight News

This final episode of Extras is the perfect Christmastime escape for those who prefer the bittersweet to the saccharine.

From The Daily Beast

What's new, then, is the pairing of unhappy truths with sweet kisses and saccharine confessions.

From The Daily Beast

The Bachelor had debuted a year earlier, and audiences were ripe for a show that punctured its saccharine fairy-tale storyline.

From The Daily Beast

Instead we get article after article of saccharine from people who really should know better.

From The Daily Beast

His father was executed in 1942 by a German gendarme after attempting to smuggle a packet of saccharine into the Ghetto.

From The Daily Beast

In this case the skin is often removed, that the saccharine matter may the better penetrate the body of the apple.

From Project Gutenberg

The bread thus retains its sweetness—no waste of its saccharine matter, and no residuum except muriate of soda or common salt.

From Project Gutenberg

The saccharine fluid produced by the mother must be, then, a sort of milk intended for the nourishment of her young.

From Project Gutenberg

Yellowish white flesh, crisp and beautiful flavor, from a mingling of the acid and saccharine.

From Project Gutenberg

Again—a picture of a child, in a halo of innocence, praying at a paternal knee to a fresco of saccharine angels!

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cloying
• sentimental
• syrupy
• twee