mawkish (adj.)

1660s, "sickly, nauseated" (a sense now obsolete), from Middle English mawke "maggot" (early 15c.; see maggot), but the literal sense of "maggoty" is not found. Figurative meaning "sickeningly sentimental, insipid" is recorded by 1702. Related: Mawkishly; mawkishness.