Definition of "saccharine" [sac•cha•rine]

• Of, relating to, or characteristic of sugar or saccharin; sweet. (adjective)
• Having a cloyingly sweet attitude, tone, or character: a saccharine smile. (adjective)
• Excessively sentimental: "It was enough for him to rely on sentiment . . . and saccharine assertions about The Home” ( Kate Millett). (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Empathy without saccharine is just the perfect recipe for me, and I felt so much better after talking with her, someone who really knows me better than almost anyone."
• "This early work is that of a young man still coming to terms with his sexuality and politics; there is a gentle, tentative longing here that would border on the saccharine were the poet not so evidently and deeply invested in every line."
• "We are donating the technology of feeding with protein honey, and we are donating the technology of saccharine, which is very easy and simple to produce."