sentimentalize

verb (used without object), sen·ti·men·tal·ized, sen·ti·men·tal·iz·ing.

1. to indulge in sentiment.

verb (used with object), sen·ti·men·tal·ized, sen·ti·men·tal·iz·ing.

2. to view (someone or something) sentimentally: He sentimentalized the relationship until all real meaning was lost.

verb

1. to make sentimental or behave sentimentally

v.1764, intransitive, “indulge in sentiments,” from sentimental + -ize. Meaning “to make sentimental” (transitive) is from 1813. Related: Sentimentalized; sentimentalizing. Think on these things, and let S______ go to Lincoln sessions by himself, and talk classically with country justices. In the meantime we will philosophize and sentimentalize;–the last word is a bright invention of the moment in which it was written, for yours or Dr. Johnson’s service …. [Laurence Sterne, letter to William Combe, Esq., dated Aug. 5, 1764, published 1787]