pathos

[pey-thos, -thohs, -thaws]

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.

pathos

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pathos¹

First recorded in 1570–80; from Greek páthos “suffering, sensation, experience,” akin to páschein “to suffer, feel, be affected”; pathetic ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of pathos¹

C17: from Greek: suffering; related to penthos sorrow

Example Sentences

Out pops the tongue—or, in this case, out pops a New York Times column uncritically linking the pathos of the Screen Actors Guild to the AI doom coming for all of humanity.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

She finds cosmic significance in the creature’s efficiently programmed movements, and pathos when she returns the next day and both it and the web are gone.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

It’s a tricky balancing act that Feinartz depicts with candor, grace and patience, never letting the film’s provocative pathos turn overly grim or sentimental.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Coogan believes Partridge's longevity is down to him having "evolved" into a more "three-dimensional" figure, capable of evoking "pathos".

Read more on BBC

“Keep A Picture” is a modern Appalachian mountain ballad in terms of the exquisite, tangible pathos.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• emotion 
• passion 
• poignancy