schmaltzy

Adjective

schmaltzy (comparative schmaltzier, superlative schmaltziest)

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
   • “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

   Synonyms:

   kitschy, mushy, sappy, bathetic, cheesy, squishy, corny, drippy, gooey, hokey