bathos

American  

[bey-thos, -thaws, -thohs] / ˈbeɪ θɒs, -θɔs, -θoʊs /

noun

1. a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax.

2. insincere pathos; sentimentality; mawkishness.

   Synonyms:

   schmaltz, gush, mush, tearfulness, maudlinness

3. triteness or triviality in style.

   Synonyms:

   inanity, insipidity

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bathos British  

/ ˈbeɪθɒs /

noun

1. a sudden ludicrous descent from exalted to ordinary matters or style in speech or writing

2. insincere or excessive pathos

3. triteness; flatness

4. the lowest point; nadir

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Etymology

Origin of bathos

1630–40; < Greek: depth

Explanation

If something starts out serious and then turns trivial, that’s bathos. If you’re watching a serious drama about Poland’s transition to capitalism and it suddenly ends in a giddy car chase, you might remark on the film’s unexpected bathos. The word bathos came into English in the 17th century from the Greek word bathos, which literally means “depth.” In the 18th century English poet Alexander Pope gave the word its current meaning of a descent from lofty to trite. We often use it for movies or books. Bathos is usually unintentional — which means you can laugh at it. Bathos can also be used more broadly for something that’s trite or overly sentimental.

Example Sentences

Bathos hovers throughout, not least when what looks like a thurible is reverently lowered from the roof – and turns out to be a lampshade.

From The Guardian • Oct. 13, 2012

As evidenced by the stampede of undistinguished candidates for mayor, San Francisco is in danger of becoming Bathos by the Bay.

From Time Magazine Archive

Pope has put it into his Treatise on the Bathos.'

From Some Private Views by Payn, James

In the tail-piece to his works, which he prepared a few months before his death, and which he called The Bathos, or Manner of Sinking in Sublime Paintings, the end of everything is represented.

From The Social History of Smoking by Apperson, George Latimer

The cutter was by this time close to us, on the larboard side, commanded by Mr Julius Caesar Tip, the senior midshipman, vulgarly called in the ship Bathos, from his rather unromantic name.

From Tom Cringle's Log by Scott, Michael