Main entry: artificial, hokey, stilted, contrived
Definition: artificially formal
Usage: that artificial humility that her husband hated; contrived coyness; a stilted letter of acknowledgment; when people try to correct their speech they develop a stilted pronunciation
Main entry: bathetic, hokey, mushy, maudlin, mawkish, kitschy, soppy, soupy, slushy, schmaltzy, schmalzy, sentimental, drippy
Definition: effusively or insincerely emotional
Usage: a bathetic novel; maudlin expressions of sympathy; mushy effusiveness; a schmaltzy song; sentimental soap operas; slushy poetry