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Definitions

sentimentalize

[sen-tuh-men-tl-ahyz] / ˌsɛn təˈmɛn tlˌaɪz /
VERB
make nostalgic
Synonyms


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Their latest collaboration does so “one bird at a time,” asking us to join two fine and observant artists in a high calling—not to sentimentalize the world, but to notice it before we lose it.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 12, 2026

Although this second season has its share of "Rogue One" cameos, including the return of Forest Whitaker’s Saw Gerrera, it mostly brushes off the franchise’s tendency to sentimentalize.

From Salon Apr. 22, 2025

As a bright October day unfolds, the contest mingles with an unavoidable sense of inevitability, but not enough for these once-a-week chums to unnecessarily sentimentalize the situation.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 14, 2025

But when he learned he’d be inducted into the Hall of Fame early next year, Kenseth couldn’t help but sentimentalize a bit.

From Seattle Times Jul. 8, 2022

"What a pity that I feel much more in mood to fish than to sentimentalize!"

From Beatrice Boville and Other Stories by Ouida

You talked about loss during the pandemic, but it isn't sentimentalized.

From Salon Jun. 9, 2023

But our policy is still based on a sentimentalized, whitewashed past that isn’t helping our future.

From Los Angeles Times Sep. 29, 2022

With it, she pursues those very subjects — motherhood and the climate emergency — that can seem too large, too sentimentalized, too guilt-inducing to be subjects of successful, let alone serious, realist fiction.

From New York Times Feb. 5, 2020

More problematically, Austen’s plight is sentimentalized by a score leaning heavily on swelling, sound-alike ballads of introspection — overkill, despite the considerable vocal power of the cast.

From Seattle Times Oct. 22, 2019

Uncle Bartle is sentimentalized, and Kitty Mulroy has no such personality as Sheila O'Dwyer.

From Irish Plays and Playwrights by Weygandt, Cornelius

“Booksmart” has been criticized for sentimentalizing high school.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 12, 2019

Mills, the author of such best-selling books as The Power Elite and White Collar, often overstated his points, and he had a tendency toward sentimentalizing Castro.

From Slate May 8, 2019

Without deriding or sentimentalizing the Amish, Castillo illustrates their culture while showing that Amish adherence to traditions and silence on sensitive situations can allow evil to seep in unexpectedly.

From Washington Times Jul. 10, 2018

One big help is casting great American actors in all these roles, but it’s also about not sentimentalizing or patronizing the characters — showing them as human beings first, not types.

From Washington Post Nov. 9, 2017

Sunday morning—led to some sentimentalizing of our Academy days.

From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover




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