pathos
Americannoun
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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.
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pity.
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Obsolete. suffering.
noun
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the quality or power, esp in literature or speech, of arousing feelings of pity, sorrow, etc
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a feeling of sympathy or pity
a stab of pathos
Etymology
Origin of pathos
First recorded in 1570–80; from Greek páthos “suffering, sensation, experience,” akin to páschein “to suffer, feel, be affected”; pathetic ( def. )
Compare meaning
How does pathos compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
Pathos is a quality that stirs emotions. A song with a lot of pathos hits you right in the heart. You ever notice how some songs or movies appeal to your brains, while others appeal to your feelings? The ones that are all about feeling are full of pathos, an appeal to emotions that originally meant "suffering" in Greek. Often, this word has to do specifically with pity and sympathy: when someone tells a story about people suffering that makes you feel for them, that's pathos.
Vocabulary lists containing pathos
Argumentative Writing
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AP English Lit exam terms
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The AP English Exam: Rhetorical and Literary Terms 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Instead it ventures into something creator Seth MacFarlane and company usually avoid, genuine pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
There’s a certain tone in my voice, a register he didn’t want me to use, a register I often use for pathos or gravitas.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 10, 2026
There is romance, drama, pathos and the verbal berating of hotel staff and music video directors.
From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025
But he mixes pathos with humor, laughing at himself even when the situations he sings about are anything but funny.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 9, 2025
Richard Nixon’s “Checkers” speech, mentioned above in the section about pathos, contains a nicely clean instance of division.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
