maudlin means affectionate or sentimental in an effusive, tearful, or foolish manner, especially because of drunkenness. It carries an Arena rating of 1867, earned across 20 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, maudlin ranks #74 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words, #349 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #431 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,183 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words.
maudlin is pronounced /ˈmɔːd.lɪn/.
Why “maudlin” is a great word
Excessively and tearfully sentimental, often in a self-pitying or foolish manner, especially as a result of drunkenness. From Middle English Maudelen, a dialectal variant of Mary Magdalene (typically depicted weeping), from Old French Madelaine, from Late Latin Magdalena, from Greek Magdalēnḗ, meaning 'woman from Magdala' (a village on the Sea of Galilee). Unlike "mawkish" (which suggests a sickly, cloying sentimentality) or "lachrymose" (which describes a general propensity for tears), "maudlin" is the specific pathos of the intoxicated soul. It is the slurred confession in a closing pub, the clumsy embrace over a spilt drink, the sudden, hot tears for a love rediscovered only in the bottom of a glass—a portrait of grief softened and made absurd by the very agent that unleashes it.
Etymology
From Middle English Maudelen, a dialectal form of Mary Magdalene (typically depicted weeping), from Old French Madelaine (whence Madeleine), from Late Latin Magdalena (see Magdalena, Magdalene, and Maudlin).
adj
- Affectionate or sentimental in an effusive, tearful, or foolish manner, especially because of drunkenness.e.g.“Why, man, you couldn't stand—you made everybody laugh in the Gardens, though you were crying yourself. You were maudlin, Jos. Don't you remember singing a song?” — 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 6, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
- Extravagantly or excessively sentimental; mawkish, self-pitying.
- Tearful, lachrymose.
name
- A surname originating as a matronymic.
noun
- The Magdalene; Mary Magdalene.
- Either of two aromatic plants, costmary or sweet yarrow.e.g.“Common Maudlin have somewhat long and narrow leaves, snipped about the edges.” — 1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged, Folio Society, published 2007, page 186:
- A Magdalene house; a brothel.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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