Use 'mawkish' to describe emotions that seem exaggerated or too intense to be real. The movie's mawkish portrayal of love was hard to take seriously.
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Negative Tone
'Mawkish' often implies a negative reaction; people usually don't like things that seem insincerely emotional. The speech was so mawkish that it made the audience cringe.
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Criticism of Art
In art or criticism, 'mawkish' suggests that the emotional appeal is manipulative or lacks authenticity. Critics called the painting mawkish, lacking genuine feeling.