bathetic

[ buh-thet-ik ]

See synonyms for bathetic on Thesaurus.com

adjective

displaying or characterized by bathos: the bathetic emotionalism of soap operas.

Origin of bathetic

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

Other words from bathetic

ba·thet·i·cal·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with bathetic

bathetic , pathetic

Words Nearby bathetic

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bathetic in a sentence

Bad writing that thinks that it is rendering an erotically charged depiction of good sex seems to be far more bathetic.
Worst Sex Writing of the Year | Olivia Cole | December 2, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
The man spoke earnestly, but a third person and extraneous hearer could hardly avoid being struck by the bathetic conclusion.
Rhoda Fleming, Complete | George Meredith
To esteem a man in inverse ratio to the amount of remarkable blood he has inherited is, to say the least, bathetic.
The Soul of the Far East | Percival Lowell
"O Stern Old Land" is a rather bathetic candidate for the national hymnship.
Contemporary American Composers | Rupert Hughes
But he puts it simply; not as an exercise in the quasi-philosophical bathetic.
The Short Works of George Meredith | George Meredith

British Dictionary definitions for bathetic

bathetic

/ (bəˈθɛtɪk) /

adjective

containing or displaying bathos

Collins 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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