WordValepathos
a quality that evokes pity or sadness
In more detail
1. (noun) a quality in something that causes feelings of sadness, pity, or sympathy
2. (noun) emotional appeal or power in art, music, or speech that moves people to feel sad or sympathetic
Examples
- 1. There was a pathos in the old man's story that made everyone in the room feel deeply sad.
- 2. The actor delivered the final monologue with such pathos that the audience was moved to tears.
How to use pathos
Pathos refers to a quality that genuinely moves audiences to compassion or sadness, often found in literature, film, music, or oratory. It differs from bathos, which is an unintended or ridiculous descent from the grand to the trivial; pathos is a deliberate, sincere emotional effect. It is commonly used in analytical and critical contexts when discussing artistic or rhetorical power.
Common phrases
- full of pathos
- emotional pathos
- sense of pathos
- evoke pathos
- pathos-laden
- steeped in pathos
Synonyms
poignancy · emotionalism · sentiment · emotional appeal · touching quality
Opposites
bathos · comedy · humor
Word family
pathetic · pathetically · pathetical
A common mistake
Learners sometimes confuse pathos with patchy or pathetic in its modern colloquial sense; remember that pathos in this classical sense is a literary/rhetorical quality that creates genuine emotional resonance, not something weak or inferior.
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