pathos — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions and passions, especially that which awakens tender emotions, such as pity, sorrow, and the like; contagious warmth of feeling, action, or expression; pathetic quality.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Synonyms

   patheticness

   Examples

   His voice had a genuine pathos now, and his large brown hands perceptibly trembled.

   She could not see, for her whitish eyes were covered with a horny film. Oh, the horrible pathos of the sight! But she could still speak.

   More examples (1)

   20 August 2018, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in The Guardian, Young women are smashing it at Edinburgh as the #MeToo legacy kicks in Pritchard-McLean’s show is perfectly constructed, and at times deeply moving to the point where some audience members were near tears, yet the pathos is undercut by true belly laughs – but don’t trust me, read the reviews.

2. A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker uses emotional appeals to the audience as the main form of persuasion.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • rhetoric
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   It was impossible to endure the jargon and the affected pathos of the squire any longer.

3. An author's attempt to evoke a feeling of pity or sympathetic sorrow for a character.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

4. In theology and existentialist ethics following Kierkegaard and Heidegger, a deep and abiding commitment of the heart, as in the notion of "finding your passion" as an important aspect of a fully lived, engaged life.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

5. Suffering; the enduring of active stress or affliction.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

Noun

1. a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)

   Synonyms

   poignancy

   Broader terms

   quality

   Examples

   the film captured all the pathos of their situation

2. a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others

   Synonyms

   commiserationpityruth

   Broader terms

   sympathyfellow feeling

   Examples

   the blind are too often objects of pity

3. a style that has the power to evoke feelings

   Broader terms

   expressive stylestyle