pathos
Americannoun
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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.
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pity.
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Obsolete. suffering.
noun
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the quality or power, esp in literature or speech, of arousing feelings of pity, sorrow, etc
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a feeling of sympathy or pity
a stab of pathos
Etymology
Origin of pathos
First recorded in 1570–80; from Greek páthos “suffering, sensation, experience,” akin to páschein “to suffer, feel, be affected”; pathetic ( def. )
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Even the sequences of obvious pathos are earned, over and over again.
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
But to her credit, Ms. Coon never turns the character into a wild-eyed hysteric or a manipulated figure of pure pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 9, 2026
But Ms. MeLampy is a gifted writer who works her grandmother’s material into her book with sparing pathos and plenty of humor.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
There is romance, drama, pathos and the verbal berating of hotel staff and music video directors.
From Salon • Dec. 24, 2025
It participates in the pathos appeal inasmuch as it stirs an audience’s emotions to laughter—but more importantly, it participates in the ethos appeal, inasmuch as laughter is based on a set of common assumptions.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
