mawkish

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The Word of the Day for July 30 is:

mawkish   \MAW-kish\   adjective
     1 : having an insipid often unpleasant taste
   *2 : sickly or puerilely sentimental 

Example sentence:
     Jessica was surprised to hear her friends rave about the 
new romantic comedy, for she had felt it was mawkish and 
predictable.

Did you know?
     The etymology of "mawkish" really opens up a can of worms --
or, more properly, maggots. The "mawk" of "mawkish" derives from 
the Middle English "mawke," which means "maggot." "Mawke," in 
its turn, developed from the Old Norse word "mathkr," which had 
the same meaning as its descendant. Although "mawkish" literally 
means "maggoty," since at least the 17th century English 
speakers have eschewed its decaying carcass implications and 
used it figuratively instead. As one language writer put 
it, "Time has treated 'mawkish' gently: the wormy stench and 
corruption of its primal state were forgotten and 'mawkish' 
became sickly in a weak sort of way instead of repulsive and 
revolting."

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.