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

Hall is another highlight, endowing an underwritten woman-scorned character with some real pathos.

From Time

They all moved from plot point to plot point and from pathos to comedy with few punches or punchlines landing.

From Time

In the celebrated mad scene concluding the first act, for example, once she is stricken she is totally enveloped by the pathos of her situation.

From Washington Post

The shock value is high, but so is the level of pathos imbued in Krauze’s text.

From Time

Everywhere DakhaBrakha has played, fans have rhapsodized about the joy and pathos in their music.

From Nautilus

Dickens was a master of heart-wrenching pathos because he felt every pain as he wrote.

From The Daily Beast

This movie and the novel are a beautiful blend of pathos and comedy.

From The Daily Beast

Braff is striving to convey a poignant blend of pathos and humor here, but his sort of striving is a form of cheating.

From The Daily Beast

And the first two episodes were directed by Peter Berg of Friday Night Lights, who is a master of small-town pathos.

From The Daily Beast

Once edgily shocking, the show now feels rich with pathos and poignancy.

From The Daily Beast

There are others who disclose a special susceptibility to the more simple effects of pathos.

From Project Gutenberg

He is a funny figure, you say; but, by your leave, it seems to me that he is only a figure of a very great pathos.

From Project Gutenberg

Thomas Westfield died; a learned English divine, whose eloquence and pathos procured him the appellation of the weeping prophet.

From Project Gutenberg

Few poets have united as he has, delicate pathos and comic force, pure rêverie and the sense of the grotesque.

From Project Gutenberg

There was a touching pathos in Jakey's voice as he sang, and it was intensified when he asked, "Doan' you 'member me, honey?"

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• emotion
• passion
• poignancy