mawkish

adj

Etymology: Etymology tree English mawk Proto-Indo-European *-iskos Proto-Germanic *-iskaz Proto-West Germanic *-isk Old English -isċ Middle English -ish English -ish English mawkish From mawk + -ish.

1. Excessively or falsely sentimental; showing a sickly excess of sentiment.

   “Some of Mr. Williams’s performances were criticized for a mawkish sentimentality, like “Patch Adams,” a 1998 film that once again cast him as a good-hearted doctor, and “Bicentennial Man,” a 1999 science-fiction feature in which he played an android.”

   “I found [Christoph] Buchel’s appropriation of the boat in which so many migrants lost their lives a vile and mawkish spectacle in the context of the biennale.”

2. Feeling sick, queasy.
3. Sickening or insipid in taste or smell.