schmaltzy

comparative schmaltzier · superlative schmaltziest · alternative schmalzy · alternative shmaltzy

1. Overly sentimental, emotional, maudlin or bathetic.

   During a series of interviews, Franzen expressed ambivalence about Oprah’s endorsement—[…] that he had found a few of her choices in the past “schmaltzy” and “one-dimensional.”

   2018 June 26, Taffy Brodesser-Akner, “Jonathan Franzen Is Fine With All of It”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 07 Dec 2020

   2 more examples

   “In France, it has the reputation of being a typically American mixture of clichés and of schmaltz,” he wrote in an email. “Clichés about us don’t interest us, and the French are not very schmaltzy.”

   2023 January 20, Dan Bilefsky, quoting Gérard Araud, “American Expatriates in Paris Wish Emily Cooper Would Go Home”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 31 Mar 2023

   As well as singing a lively Christmas number for the first time in a film (a good use of his country music success), Sutherland shares a schmaltzy waltz with Wilson: “It was a bit foreign for both of us but I think we had fun.”

   2025 November 28, Hollie Richardson, “Oh yes he is! Kiefer Sutherland dives into the world of panto”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 02 Dec 2025

   Synonyms: kitschy, mushy, sappy, bathetic, cheesy, squishy, corny, drippy