mushy

the word 'mushy' is a relatively modern english formation, emerging in the early 19th century. it is built upon the noun 'mush', which itself likely evolved from 'mash', a term for a soft mixture, possibly of imitative origin suggesting something crushed or softened. the addition of the productive adjectival suffix '-y', descended from old english '-ig', directly creates the meaning 'like mush' or 'resembling mush'. this literal sense of soft pulpiness was then extended metaphorically in the late 19th century to describe overly sentimental emotions, likening them to something soft, formless, and lacking intellectual rigor.

Structure: mush (soft pulp) + y (adjective-forming suffix) mush (origin: probably a variant of 'mash', of unknown origin, perhaps imitative) denotes a soft, wet mass. y (origin: old english -ig, germanic) is a suffix forming adjectives meaning 'characterized by; full of; having the quality of'.