schmaltzy

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schmaltzy

/ˈʃmɒltsi/

Where it comes from

From schmaltz + -y.

adjective schmaltzier · schmaltziest · schmalzy · shmaltzy

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.”
Similar: kitschy, mushy, sappy, bathetic, cheesy, squishy, corny, drippy, gooey, hokey, icky, kitsch

Translations

Every language

adj overly sentimental, emotional, maudlin or bathetic

Français	larmoyant, tire-larmes
Deutsch	schmalzig, rührselig, larmoyant
Ελληνικά	σαχλός sachlós
Русский	сентимента́льный sentimentálʹnyj, слезли́вый slezlívyj, слаща́вый slaščávyj

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MLA

"schmaltzy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/schmaltzy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

schmaltzy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/schmaltzy

Chicago

"schmaltzy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/schmaltzy.

BibTeX

@misc{schmaltzy_2026,
  title = {schmaltzy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/schmaltzy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}