mushiness

Overly tender consistency

Mushiness is the quality of being soft and pulpy, like overcooked vegetables or bruised fruit.

The word extends to anything excessively sentimental or emotionally soft: The movie's mushiness made him cringe.

A mushy text message, a mushy love scene—mushiness suggests feeling that's gone past tender into saccharine.

sentimentality

schmaltz

Poultry fat or sentimentality

sappinessExcessive maudlin sentiment
maudlinExcessively tearful sentiment
gushinessExcessive emotional expression

soppy · syrupy · touchy-feely · weepiness · overemotional · emotionalism · melodrama · pathos · heartstrings · clingy

texture

softness

Yielding to gentle pressure

sponginessSoft, porous resilience
pulpinessSoft, wet fibrous texture
squishinessSoft, compressible quality

sogginess · doughiness · gooeyness · pastiness · creaminess · viscosity · moistness · spreadability · overcooked · waterlogged

consistency

gelatinous

Viscous and semisolid

spongySoft and absorbent
gooeySoft and sticky
doughySoft like raw bread

pulpy · slimy · oozy · soggy · moist · slushy · squelchy · pasty · clammy · yielding

Categories

food spoilagerot, mold growth, spoilage, rancidity, staleness
texturessmoothness, smooth, soft, rough, roughness
sentimentalitymawkish, schmaltzy, saccharine, treacly, cloying
flexibilitystretch, elastic, bendy, stretchy, bendable
squishy thingsmarshmallow, stress ball, sponge, slime, Play-Doh

Opposites

physical texture

mushinessfirmness

Resistance to deformation

hardness · crispness · solidity · rigidity · crunchiness

emotional disposition

mushinesshard-heartedness

Lack of sympathy

coldness · toughness · cynicism · hardheadedness · stoicism

intellectual rigor

mushinessclarity

State of being understandable

precision · rigor · sharpness · incisiveness · crispness

Family

mushy, mush, mushed, mushing, musher, mushily, mushier, mushiest, smooshy

Familiarity: Top 200,000
Profile: Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Everyday, not technical · Rated G