mawkish

• adj. 令人作呕的，令人厌恶的；自作多情的；淡而无味的

来自中古英语mauk,蛆，蛆虫，缩写自mathek,来自Proto-Germanic*matho,虫，来自PIE*math,小虫，虫子，词源同maggot,moth.字面意思即长蛆的，来自古代观念认为人发狂或异想天开是因为脑子里长虫了。因此，引申词义无病呻吟的，易伤感的。-k,小词后缀，同-kin,-ish,形容词后缀。

mawkish

mawkish: [17] The underlying meaning of mawkish is ‘maggotish’. It was derived from a now obsolete word mawk, which meant literally ‘maggot’ but was used figuratively (like maggot itself) for a ‘whim’ or ‘fastidious fancy’. Hence mawkish originally meant ‘nauseated, as if repelled by something one is too fastidious to eat’. In the 18th century the notion of ‘sickness’ or ‘sickliness’ produced the present-day sense ‘over-sentimental’. Mawk itself went back to a Middle English mathek ‘maggot’ (possible source of maggot [14]), which was borrowed from Old Norse mathkr.
=> maggot

mawkish (adj.)

1660s, "sickly, nauseated," from Middle English mawke "maggot" (see maggot). Sense of "sickly sentimental" is first recorded 1702. Related: Mawkishly; mawkishness.

1. A sordid, sentimental plot unwinds, with an inevitable mawkish ending.

一段灰暗而感伤的情节慢慢展开，最后是一个不可避免的幼稚可笑的结局。

来自辞典例句

2. Such feelings infuse Ekhrajiha, which is nonetheless an odd mix of slapstick humour and mawkish sentimentality.

电影Ekhrajiha(无家可归)是一部由幽默闹剧及令人厌恶的情节组成的奇怪混合物,其中到处充斥着这种感情.

来自互联网