tear-jerkers
Movies prompting tissues
Tear-jerkers are movies, books, songs, or other works designed to provoke strong emotional responses—particularly sadness or sentimentality.
The term carries a slightly dismissive tone, suggesting the emotional manipulation is obvious or heavy-handed: I know it's a tear-jerker, but I cry every time I watch it.
Sensational, emotionally overwrought drama
- TitanicIll-fated 1912 vessel
- weepiesSentimental, cry-inducing films
- romanceLove and its excitement
- tragedyDisastrous or sorrowful event
heartbreak · tissues · sobfest · bittersweet · emotional · sentimental · deathbed · farewell
Narrative verse set to music
- power balladsEmotional arena rock songs
- torch songsEmotional songs about lost love
- breakup songsMusic about romantic endings
- requiemMass for the deceased
elegy · memorial · Adele · Whitney Houston · heartache · longing · loss · nostalgic
Extended prose fiction
- tragediesDramas with fatal endings
- deathbed scenesDramatized last breaths
- doomed loveRomance bound to end badly
- orphansChildren whose parents died
redemption · Les Miserables · Little Women · bittersweet endings · heartache · poignant · wistful · melancholy
melodrama
Sensational, emotionally overwrought drama
tragedy · heartbreak · tissues · sobfest · bittersweet · emotional · sentimental · deathbed · farewell · reunion
ballads
Narrative verse set to music
- power balladsEmotional arena rock songs
- torch songsEmotional songs about lost love
- breakup songsMusic about romantic endings
requiem · elegy · memorial · Adele · Whitney Houston · heartache · longing · loss · nostalgic · bittersweet
novels
Extended prose fiction
- tragediesDramas with fatal endings
- deathbed scenesDramatized last breaths
- doomed loveRomance bound to end badly
orphans · redemption · Les Miserables · Little Women · bittersweet endings · heartache · poignant · wistful · melancholy · catharsis
weddings
Marriage celebration events
- funeralsRites for the deceased
- graduationsCeremonies completing formal education
- reunionsGatherings of separated people
farewells · homecomings · birth · proposals · vows · eulogies · speeches · goodbyes · adoption · retirement
tear-jerkerscomedies
Humorous dramatic works
laugh riots · slapstick · knee-slappers · farces · romps
tear-jerkersthink pieces
Analytical essays on trends
deadpan humor · art house films · documentaries · thrillers · procedurals
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