bathetic

American  

[buh-thet-ik] / bəˈθɛt ɪk /

adjective

1. displaying or characterized by bathos.

   the bathetic emotionalism of soap operas.

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bathetic British  

/ bəˈθɛtɪk /

adjective

1. containing or displaying bathos

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Other Word Forms

• bathetically
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of bathetic

1825–35; bath(os) + -etic, on the model of pathetic

Explanation

Bathetic describes something that's overly sentimental, gushy, and worse yet — insincere. Soap operas are known for their bathetic emotionalism, because the characters cry and wail and scheme over the silliest things. Bathetic (the noun is bathos) comes from the Greek word for "depth" but not as in the ocean floor but as in "anticlimax" — a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous. Being bathetic is usually not done on purpose. A bathetic scene in a movie might have a character fall to her knees and scream, "Nooooooo!" because her son left his socks on the floor again. Don't confuse bathetic with pathetic, which means "pitiful."

Example Sentences

That they’re all various degrees of bonkers and/or bathetic is the joke, though it’s not always easy to distinguish between this more strenuously underlined absurdity and regular Wesworld whimsy.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 12, 2021

All Kubrick did was make “The Shining” 10 times scarier and 75 percent less bathetic than the book.

From Washington Post • Dec. 16, 2020

It’s deliberately, strangely picturesque then suddenly bathetic, playing with the natural rhythms of both comedy and drama.

From The Guardian • Feb. 23, 2017

Meanwhile, he piles on the drama in implausible and bathetic ways: a death row inmate who survives a botched execution; an autistic family member who unknowingly passes along deadly information; several seizures.

From New York Times • Nov. 15, 2016

But, in its context, this isn’t delivered for comic or bathetic effect.

From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith