Pathos Meaning
/ˈpeɪˌθɒs/Definition, CEFR level C2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe 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.
nounA form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker uses emotional appeals to the audience as the main form of persuasion.
Sentence Examples
The pathos is too much.
I was intrigued by the pathos in your work.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The actor's speech was full of ____, making the audience feel deep pity and sorrow.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The final scene of the film was filled with ____, leaving many audience members in tears.
Word Origin & History
From Ancient Greek πάθος (páthos, “suffering”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"His voice had a genuine pathos now, and his large brown hands perceptibly trembled."
— 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far From The Madding Crowd:
"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."
— 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:
"It was impossible to endure the jargon and the affected pathos of the squire any longer."
— 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 250:
Explore More C2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The actor's speech was full of ____, making the audience feel deep pity and sorrow.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The final scene of the film was filled with ____, leaving many audience members in tears.