- Today's Word
Mawkish
MAW-kish
Definition
(adjective) Overly sentimental or emotional to the point of being unpleasant.
Example
The movie’s mawkish ending drew eye-rolls rather than tears.
Fun Fact
Mawkish originally referred to a nauseating or spoiled taste, stemming from the Middle English mauk, meaning “maggot.” Over time, the meaning shifted from physical disgust to emotional excess. Today, it’s used to describe songs, movies, or writing that lay on the sentiment so thick it turns people off.
(verb) To speak falsely or maliciously about someone; to misrepresent or defame
The tabloid had traduced the actress so thoroughly that even her closest colleagues began to doubt her.
Traduce derives from the Latin traducere — from trans (“across”) + ducere (“to lead”) — meaning literally “to lead across” or “to parade before others.” In Roman usage it carried the sense of publicly displaying someone to their shame, leading them in disgrace before a crowd. It entered English in the 16th century carrying that same sense of deliberate, public humiliation through false representation.