What does sentimental mean?
Word: Sentimental
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Sentimental means full of tender feelings, especially about the past or about people you love; sometimes it means showing these feelings a little too much.
Synonyms: tender, nostalgic
Antonyms: practical, unfeeling
How do you spell sentimental?
Syllables: sen - ti - men - tal
Tricky part: The word ends in -al, not -le. Students write sentimentle or sentimentel.
Watch out for: sentimentle, sentimentel
Memory tip: Say sentimen-TAL with a clear a when you spell it, even though in speech the end shrinks to a quick, weak sound.
Idioms and Phrases
- sentimental value: importance that something has because of the memories it holds, not because of its price Example: "Nani's old steel tiffin box is worth little money, but it has great sentimental value."
Sentimental in a sentence
Example 1: Papa gets sentimental whenever he hears the songs from his college days.
Example 2: I keep my first school bag for sentimental reasons.
Example 3: The film had a sentimental ending that made half the audience cry.
Fun Fact
The word became fashionable in the 1700s, helped by a popular travel book of 1768 by the writer Laurence Sterne that had sentimental in its title.
Practise the CREST Way
Spellacadabra
Choose the option in which the following letters will fit in the given order:
e, i, e, a
a) f__nd__m__nt__l
b) s__nt__m__nt__l
c) __nstr__m__nt__l
d) __rn__m__nt__l
Show answer
b) s__nt__m__nt__l. Fundamental, instrumental and ornamental start with other vowels, so only one word takes e, i, e, a.
Sound Check
In which word is 's' pronounced differently?
a) sugar
b) salad
c) sentimental
d) sister
Show answer
a) sugar. Sugar begins with a sh sound; sentimental, sister and salad start with a plain s.
Word Champ
Choose the correct word for the blank:
Looking at her old school photos, Dadi grew quiet and ___, remembering friends from long ago.
a) suspicious
b) ambitious
c) sentimental
d) energetic
Show answer
c) sentimental. Tender feelings about the past are sentimental ones; nothing in the scene is suspicious, energetic or ambitious.
Word Tally
You get 2 marks for each correctly spelt word in the list. How many marks will you score?
sentimental, memories, keepsake, photograph, albam
a) 8
b) 6
c) 10
d) 4
Show answer
a) 8. Only album is misspelt; it ends in -um. Four correct words earn 2 marks each.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A sentimental film is most likely to make people ___.
a) check their watches often
b) fall asleep from boredom
c) laugh at silly jokes
d) dab their eyes with a hanky
Show answer
d) dab their eyes with a hanky
2. Which gift is most likely to be kept for sentimental reasons?
a) a grandparent's old watch
b) an empty juice packet
c) a broken plastic spoon
d) a used bus ticket from today
Show answer
a) a grandparent's old watch
