To become sickeningly sweet or cloying, to overwhelm with excessive sweetness or sentimentality. When too much of a good thing becomes nauseating.
From Spanish, possibly from 'em-' (in) + 'palagar' (related to 'paladar,' meaning palate). The word originally described the physical sensation of being overwhelmed by excessive sweetness on the palate, then expanded metaphorically to describe anything that becomes sickening through excess — overly sentimental movies, cloying romance, or saccharine behavior.
This is the PERFECT word for when something sweet turns sickening! You know that moment when you're eating candy and suddenly can't take another bite? Or when a romantic comedy gets so sugary it makes you want to throw popcorn at the screen? That's 'empalagar' in action! Spanish speakers can describe both literal sugar overload AND emotional cheese-overload with one beautifully specific verb.
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