the word sugary is a transparent english formation, built upon the noun sugar. the noun sugar itself has a long migratory history, tracing back to the sanskrit word śarkarā, which originally referred to grit or gravel. this term traveled through persian and arabic before entering european languages via medieval latin and old french. the english adjective suffix -y, of old english origin, is productively added to nouns to mean "having the qualities of" or "resembling." therefore, sugary literally means "having the qualities of sugar," directly describing a sweet taste. its figurative meaning of being excessively sweet or sentimental is a natural semantic extension based on the cloying effect of too much sweetness.

Structure: sugar (sweet substance) + y (adjective suffix) sugar (origin: middle english, from old french sucre, from medieval latin zuccarum, from arabic sukkar, from persian shakar, from sanskrit śarkarā, meaning "grit or gravel, sugar"). y (origin: old english -ig, a common adjective-forming suffix meaning "characterized by; full of").