Sentimentalities

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Regarded as emotional expressions that invoke nostalgia or tender feelings, often seen as excessive or overly romantic
2. Reflections on memories or feelings that may be perceived as clichéd or overly dramatic
3. Exhibitions of fondness or affection that can come off as trivial or overly emotional in nature

Etymology: The word "sentiment" arrived in English from Old French "sentement," itself descended from Latin "sentimentum," a noun built on "sentire," "to feel." Its earliest senses were plainly about feeling and opinion. "Sentimental" followed as a formation from "sentiment" with the Latin-derived adjective suffix, and "sentimentality" came later, built from "sentimental" with the suffix "-ity," which turns adjectives into nouns of quality. The music sense is the most surprising part of this family. "Sentimentality" took on a specialised meaning in music as a calque, or word-for-word translation, of the German "Empfindsamkeit," a term for a late eighteenth-century style of expressive, emotionally delicate composition. English borrowed the idea by copying the German structure rather than the German word itself. The plural "sentimentalities" is the form of "sentimentality" meaning several separate displays of this quality, each one a small instance of feeling laid on a little too thickly.

Synonyms: emotionalism, maudlinness, nostalgia, romanticism, softheartedness

Antonyms: rationality, pragmatism, stoicism, objectivity, hard-heartedness