Meaning & use

treacly

adjective·Advanced

Excessively sweet or sentimental, especially in a way that feels insincere or cloying.

See it in a sentence

Critics found the film's ending too treacly, with its overly sentimental music and dialogue.

The greeting card's treacly verses made her roll her eyes rather than smile.

A note on using this word

Treacly comes from treacle, a thick, sweet syrup, and is almost always used disapprovingly to criticize excessive sentimentality.

Words with a similar meaning

saccharinesyrupy

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

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