adjective
maudlin
MAWD-lin/ˈmɔːdlɪn/
Overly sentimental or tearfully self-pitying.
The maudlin young man weeps extravagantly over childhood photographs and his teddy bear.
Etymology
Maudelen named Mary Magdalene, often depicted weeping in repentance because she was identified with the forgiven sinner in Luke. Her name became a description of tearfulness, then of excessive, tearful sentimentality.
In context
He had called on Roaring Abel then and found him in the theological stage of drunkenness—which always followed the sentimental maudlin one, and preceded the roaring, blasphemous one.
More examples
- After a few drinks, he gets maudlin about his failed relationships.
- Her memoir is moving without becoming maudlin.
- Spare me another maudlin speech about how nobody appreciates you.
Forms
maudlin · more maudlin · most maudlin