Standard Lemma guide

tearjerker

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cryfest, sobfest

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

an excessively sentimental narrative

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: narrative, narration, story, tale

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

15 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 催淚作品 /催泪作品 (cuīlèizuòpǐn) — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Dutch: tranentrekker — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Finnish: nyyhkytarina — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Finnish: nyyhkyleffa — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • French: tire-larmes — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • German: Schnulze — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Italian: strappalacrime — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Italian: lacrimoso — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Japanese: お涙頂戴 (onamida chōdai) — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Polish: wyciskacz łez — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Serbo-Croatian: srcedrapateljna priča — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Spanish: lacrimoso — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Spanish: lacrimógeno — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Spanish: dramón — emotionally charged dramatic work
  • Swedish: snyftare — emotionally charged dramatic work