mawkish
/ˈmɔːkɪʃ/adjective
mawkish is spelled M-A-W-K-I-S-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, mawkish means “Excessively or falsely sentimental; showing a sickly excess of sentiment” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in mawkish?
| Letters | 7: M-A-W-K-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 12 million words; the 102,771st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is mawkish?
Mawkish appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 102,771st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mawkish?
- US /ˈmɔːkɪʃ/
- /ˈmɑːkɪʃ/
Mawkish has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mawkish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of mawkish
- more mawkish comparative
- most mawkish superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mawkish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Excessively or falsely sentimental; showing a sickly excess of sentiment.
- 2
archaicFeeling sick, queasy.
- 3
archaicSickening or insipid in taste or smell.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does mawkish come from?
From mawk + -ish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).