tearjerker

Definition

An emotionally charged film, novel, song, opera, television episode, etc., usually with one or more sad passages or ending, so termed because it suggests one is likely to cry during its performance.

Etymology

From tear + jerker.

Example Sentences

• "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."