Word
sappy
Phoneticssap·py
UK/sˈæpi/
Definition
adj. too emotional or sweet in a silly way. You use it for movies, songs or love notes that try hard to make you feel something.
adj. excessively sentimental to the point of seeming silly, naive or mawkish.
Examples
“She loves sappy love songs from the 90s.”
“He writes her a sappy card every Valentine's Day and she pretends to be annoyed.”
“The novel avoids a sappy ending, choosing quiet realism over grand declarations of undying love.”
Examples
simple
“She loves sappy love songs from the 90s.”
contextual
“He writes her a sappy card every Valentine's Day and she pretends to be annoyed.”
complex
“The novel avoids a sappy ending, choosing quiet realism over grand declarations of undying love.”
Collocations
Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “sappy” in context.
Verb
01. dismiss as sappy
“Critics dismissed the novel as sappy and predictable.”
verb + prep + adj
02. find sappy
“I find those greeting card messages a bit too sappy for my taste.”
verb + adj
03. sappy become
“The plot becomes sappy toward the end when the long-lost lovers finally reunite.”
adj + verb
04. sappy sound
“The lyrics might sound sappy, but the melody is actually quite sophisticated.”
adj + verb
Adjective
05. hopelessly sappy
“He is a hopelessly sappy romantic who still writes handwritten love poems.”
adv + adj
06. unabashedly sappy
“The film is unabashedly sappy, but it still managed to make the entire audience cry.”
adv + adj
Noun
07. sappy dialogue
“The actors struggled to deliver the sappy dialogue with straight faces.”
adj + noun
08. sappy love song
“The radio station played one sappy love song after another all evening.”
adj + noun
09. sappy movie
“We spent the weekend watching sappy movies and eating popcorn.”
adj + noun
10. a bit too sappy
“The ending of the book was a bit too sappy for most adult readers.”
11. get all sappy
“Don't get all sappy on me just because I'm moving away.”
12. sappy and sentimental
“The speech was sappy and sentimental, but it suited the wedding perfectly.”
Usage
Typically placed before the noun it modifies, as in 'a sappy film'.
Real-World Examples
“I imagine the room of country music executives in sharkskin suits and cowboy hats (stay true to those roots!) in some Nashville high rise, sitting around a rich mahogany table coming up with the next sappy ballad.” “Before he came along, solemn young men looking to channel their post-adolescent turmoil either formed a sappy nu-folk band or made grime on their PlayStations.” Etymology
From Middle English sappy, sapy, from Old English sæpiġ (“full of sap, succulent”), equivalent to sap + -y. Cognate with West Frisian sappig (“juicy”), Dutch sappig (“juicy, succulent”), Middle High German saffic, seffec ("juicy, succulent"; > German saftig), Danish saftig (“juicy”), Swedish saftig (“juicy”). Doublet of zaftig.
Compare Latin sapere (“to taste”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
NOUN
ADJECTIVE
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Occasional
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
- アルファベット
- 読み方の一覧 →
QR code
englishreference.com/q/sappy