sentimentalize
Add false sweetness
To sentimentalize is to treat something with excessive or affected emotion, often romanticizing or idealizing it beyond what the facts warrant.
People sentimentalize childhood, old neighborhoods, or historical eras by glossing over hardships and emphasizing only the pleasant: The film sentimentalizes rural poverty.
The word carries a faint accusation of intellectual dishonesty—preferring feeling to truth.
Unpleasantly overemotional
- saccharineExaggeratedly sentimental
- cloyingExcessively sweet or sentimental
- overwroughtExcessively emotional or elaborate
- treaclyExcessively sweet or sentimental
schmaltzy · syrupy · gushing · mushy · sappy · corny · tearjerker · weepy
Regard as flawless
- glorifyPraise to excess
- fairy-taleMagical children's story
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
- rose-coloredPinkish or overly hopeful
daydream · fantasy · storybook · dreamy · enchant · starry-eyed · wistfulness · moonlit
Deeply and sincerely meant
- touchingEvoking gentle emotion
- poignantEvoking keen emotion
- heartstringsDeep emotional attachments
- warmthHeat you feel
fondness · affection · endearing · soulful · cherish · emotive · gentle · soft-hearted
Recall past experiences fondly
- wistfulSadly longing for something
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- longingIntense, persistent desire
- memoriesStored past experiences
bygone · yesteryear · retrospect · homesick · flashback · recollection · reverie · halcyon
mawkish
Unpleasantly overemotional
- saccharineExaggeratedly sentimental
- cloyingExcessively sweet or sentimental
- overwroughtExcessively emotional or elaborate
treacly · schmaltzy · syrupy · gushing · mushy · sappy · corny · tearjerker · weepy · maudlin
idealize
Regard as flawless
- glorifyPraise to excess
- fairy-taleMagical children's story
- whimsicalPlayfully fanciful or erratic
rose-colored · daydream · fantasy · storybook · dreamy · enchant · starry-eyed · wistfulness · moonlit · picturesque
heartfelt
Deeply and sincerely meant
- touchingEvoking gentle emotion
- poignantEvoking keen emotion
- heartstringsDeep emotional attachments
warmth · fondness · affection · endearing · soulful · cherish · emotive · gentle · soft-hearted · moving
reminisce
Recall past experiences fondly
- wistfulSadly longing for something
- yearningIntense prolonged craving
- longingIntense, persistent desire
memories · bygone · yesteryear · retrospect · homesick · flashback · recollection · reverie · halcyon · heritage
sentimentalizedesensitize
Reduce responsiveness over time
harden · toughen · detach · brutalize · depersonalize
sentimentalizedeglamorize
Strip of appeal
demythologize · demystify · disenchant · debunk · tell it like it is
sentimentality, sentimentalism, sentimentalist, sentimentalized, sentimentalizing, sentimentalizes, sentimentalised, sentimentalise