From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishmawkishmawk‧ish /ˈmɔːkɪʃ $ ˈmɒː-/ adjective EMOTIONALshowing too much emotion in a way that is embarrassing SYN sentimental a mawkish love story —mawkishly adverb —mawkishness noun [uncountable]
Examples from the Corpus
mawkish• He can combine tenderness and humour without becoming mawkish.• Oh, really, she told herself crossly, you're becoming mawkish!• Matthew came by her, and held open the door to the small room with a mawkish bow.• A mawkish exercise, but one that everyone enjoys - to step about this cluttered suburb like a daytime ghost.• Then, perhaps feeling that his gesture was mawkish, he looked embarrassed, took the flowers out and backed away.• Despite a few mawkish moments, much of the exhumed material sounds top-drawer.• The movie is set to a mawkish score.Origin mawkish (1600-1700) mawk “maggot” ((15-19 centuries)), from Old Norse mathkr 