pathos

American  

[pey-thos, -thohs, -thaws] / ˈpeɪ θɒs, -θoʊs, -θɔs /

noun

1. 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.

2. pity.

3. Obsolete. suffering.

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pathos British  

/ ˈpeɪθɒs /

noun

1. the quality or power, esp in literature or speech, of arousing feelings of pity, sorrow, etc

2. a feeling of sympathy or pity

   a stab of pathos

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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:

• pathos vs. ethos

Example Sentences

A multiple Emmy-award winner, “The Pitt” has found what may be the perfect remedy for people with short attention spans, a weakness for pathos and a hunger for detail of the modern-medical variety.

From The Wall Street Journal

But Ms. MeLampy is a gifted writer who works her grandmother’s material into her book with sparing pathos and plenty of humor.

From The Wall Street Journal

There is romance, drama, pathos and the verbal berating of hotel staff and music video directors.

From Salon

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

“There he tinkered with dismembered clocks and toasters, and the pathos of dismantled gears, springs and wires infected him with a tenderness for mechanisms that spill their guts for all the world to see.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• emotion
• passion
• poignancy