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Word for "excessively sweet" with negative connotation

English Language & Usage Asked by Drossel on March 19, 2021

Which word can describe a product or dish which is so sweet that it is almost impossible to eat or to enjoy it? For example "this jam is ___ , i can’t even eat it".

I found "sugary" and "honeyed" (linked in the "sugary" entry) but I think they are rather postive than negative.

5 Answers

cloying

Excessively sweet, rich, or sentimental, especially to a disgusting or sickening degree.

Lexico

...as in "This jam is cloyingly sweet."

The word can also be used to describe perfumes, overly-sentimental movies, etc.

The usage goes back to at least the Elizabethan times

We sicken to shun sickness when we purge,
Even so, being full of your ne'er cloying sweetness,
To bitter sauces did I frame my feeding...

William Shakespeare

Correct answer by Cascabel on March 19, 2021

Although other senses get in the way, one near-literal sense of saccharine fits:

saccharine [adjective]

2: overly or sickishly sweet

  • [a] saccharine flavor

[Merriam-Webster]

The default use of the adjective is the metaphorical sense, putting on a pretence of friendliness. The sickly-sweet flavour sense would probably be mainly found in literature, and not in a predicative usage.

"This dessert is/tastes saccharine" isn't idiomatic.

Answered by Edwin Ashworth on March 19, 2021

Sugary: may convey the idea of something that is too sweet.

Sugary food or drink contains a lot of sugar.

  • Sugary canned drinks rot your teeth.

(Collins dictionary)

exaggeratedly sweet

cloyingly sweet

(M-W)

Answered by user 66974 on March 19, 2021

sickly-sweet

Excessively or unpleasantly sweet.

Answered by Mary on March 19, 2021

  • The jam is "too" sweet to eat.

I think it conveys the desired effect ."–too...to "construction.

Answered by Barid Baran Acharya on March 19, 2021

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