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tearjerker

noun

Etymology

From tear + jerker, so termed because it suggests one is likely to cry during its performance.

  1. inherited from ġearcian — “to prepare, make ready, procure, furnish, supply”
  2. derived from ġearc
  3. derived from yerkid — “tightly pulled”
  4. inherited from yerk
  5. formed as jerker — “jerk + -er”
  6. formed as tearjerker — “tear + jerker”

Definitions

  1. An emotionally charged film, novel, song, opera, television episode, etc., usually with…

    An emotionally charged film, novel, song, opera, television episode, etc., usually with one or more sad passages or ending.

    • Renamed in honor of the tube tearjerker, the work wondrously went on to become the most recognized theme in all of soapdom.
    • The psychologist Paul Rozin lumps tearjerkers with other examples of benign masochism like smoking, riding on roller coasters, eating hot chili peppers, and sitting in saunas.
    • The many tear-jerkers deal with finality, with death and the end of love, with a stoicism pregnant with feeling.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for tearjerker. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA