How to Use sentimentalism in a Sentence
sentimentalism
noun-
But strip away the easy sentimentalism of the moment and you’re left with little else.
—Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, 20 July 2017
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There can be something pitiless about Mr. Shults’s gaze, but the steadiness of his look is that of the artist who refuses to sell the truth out for sentimentalism.
—Manohla Dargis, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2016
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The melodies relate to Celtic music, and the people who live there share a love for sentimentalism and suffering in silence.
—WSJ, 24 Oct. 2017
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But the inclusion of the sweet little blond girl struck me as a step in the direction of interspecies sentimentalism.
—Dana Stevens, Slate Magazine, 11 July 2017
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Well, not too much treacle; anything that starts with James Earl Jones' narration is bound to have its own blend of gravitas and sentimentalism.
—A.d. Amorosi, chicagotribune.com, 19 July 2019
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The sentimentalism was mitigated by regular doses of bawdy humor, the targets of which were no doubt the envy of quite a number of spectators of both sexes.
—Los Angeles Times, 21 July 2019
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Nixon critics tend to associate his name not just with lying and abuse of power, but also with maudlin sentimentalism and elaborate excuse-making.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 4 Sep. 2020
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That, too, informs the series’ pulsating sense of sentimentalism, says Brodesser-Akner.
—Malina Saval, Variety, 5 Mar. 2023
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With the rise of the middle class in the 17th and 18th centuries, sentimentalism became a movement that emphasized compassion as a desirable character trait, causing an increase in the expressions of sentiment.
—cleveland, 10 Feb. 2020
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The whole effectively functions as a scrapbook, but without the nostalgia or sentimentalism.
—Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Feb. 2022
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The trouble is that, mixed up in all this, there is a heartfelt sentimentalism (understandable, given the circumstances) and political opportunism.
—Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 14 Apr. 2020
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This is no sentimentalism: Americans have long defined themselves as a family.
—Maurizio Valsania, The Conversation, 3 Dec. 2021
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Any other view of human nature is an exercise in magical thinking or sentimentalism.
—James Ryerson, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2017
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Now, the difficulty is compassion can often lead a biographer or a historian into a sloppy sentimentalism, sometimes even into maybe what is worse, and that is a kind of guilty empathy and sympathy with your subject.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2021
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Much sentimentalism has attached itself to Ashley’s sack and the poetry of Ruth’s embroidered inscription, but the sack was originally an emergency kit, born out of despairing necessity.
—New York Times, 9 June 2021
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Enriquez’s stories are historically aware and class-conscious, but her characters never avail themselves of sentimentalism or comfort.
—Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, 3 Mar. 2017
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Two new books offer important corrections to such sentimentalism.
—The Economist, 3 May 2018
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The industry touches on ethics and economics, environmentalism and sentimentalism, science and sensationalism, often in surprising ways.
—Mark Jenkins, Smithsonian Magazine, 11 Jan. 2023
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sentimentalism.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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