schmaltz

See also: Schmaltz

English

Borrowed from Yiddish שמאַלץ (shmalts) or German Schmalz. Doublet of smalt, smalto, and enamel.

(UK) IPA^(key): /ʃmɒlts/, /ʃmɔːlts/
- Audio (Southern England); /ʃmɒlts/: (file)
(US) IPA^(key): /ʃmɔlts/, /ʃmɑlts/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ʃmɑlts/
Rhymes: -ɒlts, -ɔːlts

schmaltz (uncountable)

(cooking) Rendered chicken or goose fat.
- 2014 December 9, Melissa Clark, “Schmaltz Finds a New, Younger Audience”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 December 2014:
  Even now, as medical science has given a nod to the moderate consumption of saturated animal fats, and the culinary elite has fallen hard for the likes of lard, tallow and duck fat, poor schmaltz remains the babushka-clad cousin not invited to the table. This is a shame, because schmaltz is one the most versatile and flavorful fats you can use.
(figurative, derogatory) Excessively sentimental art or music.
- 2016 April 8, Spencer Kornhaber, “M83's ‘Junk’ Revels in the Joy of Schmaltz”, in The Atlantic‎^[2], archived from the original on 10 June 2016:
  Are you moved because the disco soundscape of “Moon Crystal” reminds you of TV shows from long ago, or because those high, whining violins over funk guitar are eternally gorgeous? […] Schmaltz is schmaltz, and it can make life worth living.
- 2017 February 7, Caleb Crain, “The Sentimental Sadist”, in The Atlantic‎^[3], →ISSN, archived from the original on 3 April 2021:
  The cost, for [George] Saunders, of moving beyond the stylized violence of his early stories seems to be the transmutation of a portion of his violence into schmaltz.

excessively sentimental art