French Conversation · Level 101
60 words
French word
sentimental
Pronunciation
IPA/sɑ̃timɑ̃tal/
Meaning
- adjectiveemotional
Example
Il est sentimental après le film.
He gets emotional after the movie.
More examples
Ce cadeau est trop sentimental pour lui.
This gift is too sentimental for him.
Core concept
A person holding an old keepsake close because its emotional value outweighs its practical use.
Common phrases
cadeau sentimental
sentimental gift
lettre sentimentale
sentimental letter
attitude sentimentale
sentimental attitude
Similar words
sensible: Easily affected emotionally by other people's words or by events.
nostalgique: Longing for the past and cherishing memories of earlier times.
émotif: Showing strong emotional ups and downs and openly expressing feelings.
mélancolique: Marked by a quiet sadness or a sense of loneliness.
Definition in French
Qui accorde une importance affective aux personnes, aux objets ou aux souvenirs, souvent avec une teinte nostalgique.
Word origin
French sentimental is built from sentiment with the suffix -al, and sentiment traces through Old French to Latin sentire, "to feel."
Usage tips
- French sentimental agrees in gender and number: sentimentale, sentimentaux, and sentimentales.
Other meanings
- sentimentaladjective
Opposites
- indifférentindifferentadjective
- objectifobjectiveadjective
Related words
- sentimentalementsentimentallyadverb
- sentimentsentimentnoun