DictionaryAI

maudlin

MAWD-lin/ˈmɔːd.lɪn/

Noun pluralmaudlins

4 meanings of maudlin

Practice

  1. 1
    too sentimentaladjective
    Foolishly or excessively sentimental, often tearful or self-pitying, especially as a result of drinking too much.

    The film's maudlin ending, with its swelling violins, left most critics cold.

    He sent her a maudlin letter full of complaints about how unfairly life had treated him.

    Similarsentimental, mawkish

    Oppositeunsentimental

    Note

    Drink need not be involved: the word also serves as a critic's verdict on feeling laid on too thick, in a film, a song or a letter. Its edge is self-pity. C. S. Lewis, in A Grief Observed (1961), sets "maudlin tears" against honest agony and recoils from the sticky-sweet wallow of self-pity. Mawkish is the near neighbor, but maudlin leans further toward tears and the self.

    Checked 3 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • C. S. Lewis wrote A Grief Observed, first published in 1961. en.wikipedia.org
    • Lewis uses the words “maudlin tears,” contrasts them with agony he calls honest, and expresses disgust at indulging in self-pity. fadedpage.com
  2. 2
    adjectiveobsolete
    Tearful and given to weeping.
    Note

    Plain weeping, with no judgment attached, keeps closest to the tearful saint behind the word. This use is obsolete, so today maudlin always carries a charge of excess or self-pity; for weeping alone, tearful or lachrymose is the word to use.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

    • The word derives from a form of Mary Magdalene’s name, associated with depictions of her weeping. en.wiktionary.org
    • The simple sense “tearful, lachrymose” is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
  3. 3
    nounobsolete
    Mary Magdalene, often called simply the Magdalene.
    for alle they worſchipden hir ſouereynly / as worthy was / but ſpecially Mawdelayne / that wolde neuere departe fro hir.
    c. 1400, Nicholas Love, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ
    Note

    English once said Magdalene as Maudlin: Middle English Maudelen, from Old French Madelaine. Nicholas Love's translation, The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ, spells her Mawdelayne. Because she was usually pictured weeping, the old spoken form of her name lives on in the adjective for overdone feeling, while the saint herself is the Magdalene again.

    Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

    • Maudlin was an English form of Magdalene, derived through Middle English Maudelen from Old French Madelaine. en.wiktionary.org
    • Nicholas Love translated The Mirror of the Blessed Life of Jesus Christ. gla.ac.uk
    • Love's translation uses the spelling Mawdelayne. en.wiktionary.org
    • Depictions of Mary Magdalene weeping gave rise to the adjective maudlin. en.wikipedia.org

Less common meaning

  1. 4
    noun
    The aromatic plant costmary, or the similarly fragrant sweet yarrow.
    Common Maudlin have somewhat long and narrow leaves, snipped about the edges.
    1653, Nicholas Culpeper, The English Physician Enlarged

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Origin

Late Latin Magdalena became Old French Madelaine (the source of Madeleine), which gave Middle English Maudelen, a dialect form of the name Mary Magdalene. She was usually shown weeping in art.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts