1890, from mushy + -ness. Figurative sense of "sentimentality" attested from 1946.
Entries linking to mushiness
mushy adj.
1839, "soft, pulpy, like mush, without firmness," from mush (n.) + -y (2). Figurative sense of "sentimental" is by 1870; mush (n.) in a transferred sense of "sentimentality" is attested from 1908. Related: Mushiness.
-ness
word-forming element denoting action, quality, or state, attached to an adjective or past participle to form an abstract noun, from Old English -nes(s), from Proto-Germanic *in-assu- (cognates: Old Saxon -nissi, Middle Dutch -nisse, Dutch -nis, Old High German -nissa, German -nis, Gothic -inassus), from *-in-, originally belonging to the noun stem, + *-assu-, abstract noun suffix, probably from the same root as Latin -tudo (see -tude).