pathos
the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity, or of sympathetic and kindly sorrow or compassion.
pity.
Obsolete. suffering.
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Origin of pathos
1Words that may be confused with pathos
- bathos, pathos
Words Nearby pathos
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pathos in a sentence
Hall is another highlight, endowing an underwritten woman-scorned character with some real pathos.
Nine Perfect Strangers Is a Master Class From Some of Hollywood’s Finest Actors— But Not Much More | Judy Berman | August 17, 2021 | TimeThey all moved from plot point to plot point and from pathos to comedy with few punches or punchlines landing.
Atypical Fell Short as Both Autistic Representation and Entertainment. At Least It Was Eclipsed During Its Own Time | Sarah Kurchak | July 16, 2021 | TimeIn the celebrated mad scene concluding the first act, for example, once she is stricken she is totally enveloped by the pathos of her situation.
Carla Fracci, a reigning star of 20th-century ballet, dies at 84 | Emily Langer | May 30, 2021 | Washington PostThe shock value is high, but so is the level of pathos imbued in Krauze’s text.
Everywhere DakhaBrakha has played, fans have rhapsodized about the joy and pathos in their music.
Dickens was a master of heart-wrenching pathos because he felt every pain as he wrote.
This movie and the novel are a beautiful blend of pathos and comedy.
Sherman Alexie on His New Film, the Redskins, and Why It's OK to Laugh at His Work | William O’Connor | August 22, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBraff is striving to convey a poignant blend of pathos and humor here, but his sort of striving is a form of cheating.
And the first two episodes were directed by Peter Berg of Friday Night Lights, who is a master of small-town pathos.
‘The Leftovers’ Review: A Fever Dream You Can’t Wake Up From | Andrew Romano | June 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTOnce edgily shocking, the show now feels rich with pathos and poignancy.
There are others who disclose a special susceptibility to the more simple effects of pathos.
Children's Ways | James SullyHe is a funny figure, you say; but, by your leave, it seems to me that he is only a figure of a very great pathos.
The Portsmouth Road and Its Tributaries | Charles G. HarperThomas Westfield died; a learned English divine, whose eloquence and pathos procured him the appellation of the weeping prophet.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology | Joel MunsellFew poets have united as he has, delicate pathos and comic force, pure rêverie and the sense of the grotesque.
Friend Mac Donald | Max O'RellThere was a touching pathos in Jakey's voice as he sang, and it was intensified when he asked, "Doan' you 'member me, honey?"
The Cromptons | Mary J. Holmes
British Dictionary definitions for pathos
/ (ˈpeɪθɒs) /
the quality or power, esp in literature or speech, of arousing feelings of pity, sorrow, etc
a feeling of sympathy or pity: a stab of pathos
Origin of pathos
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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