Pathos is a quality in a situation, film, or play that makes people feel sadness and pity.
...the pathos of man's isolation. [+ of]
With touching pathos he described the pangs of hunger.
Synonyms: sadness, poignancy, plaintiveness, pitifulness More Synonyms of pathos
pathos in British English
(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 origin
C17: from Greek: suffering; related to penthos sorrow
pathos in American English
(ˈpeɪˌθɑs; ˈpeɪˌθɔs)
noun
1. Rare
suffering
2.
the quality in something experienced or observed which arouses feelings of pity, sorrow, sympathy, or compassion
3.
the feeling aroused
SYNONYMY NOTE: pathos names that quality, in a real situation or in a literary or artistic work, whichevokes sympathy and a sense of sorrow or pity; , bathos applies to a false or overdone pathos that is absurd in its effect; , poignancy implies an emotional quality that is keenly felt, often to the point of being sharplypainful
Word origin
Gr pathos, suffering, disease, feeling, akin to pathein, paschein, to suffer, feel < IE base *kwenth-, to suffer, endure > OIr cessaim, I suffer
Examples of 'pathos' in a sentence
pathos
It was a beautiful mixture of humour and pathos.
The Sun (2015)
His work combines a wry humour with pathos.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
There is a real pathos running through the whole story.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The film hit all the notes from comedy to pathos and sharpened your hearing as it did so.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Certainly, it has moments of the most intense drama and pathos.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
He is really lovable, full of pathos and humour.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Full of wisdom, humour and pathos.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Its collection of entwined stories is brilliantly constructed, moving between satirical comedy and unforced pathos.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
It's a neatly judged mix of high comedy and pathos.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
This is a king visibly burdened by the weight of his crown, who evokes real pathos.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Another potential source of appeal is class, which gives the libretto much of its pathos and comedy.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
A beautifully judged film that expertly balances humour and pathos.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Humour pathos in equal measures.
The Sun (2007)
Yet the female element in Miami Blues brings an unlikely touch of humour and pathos.
The Times Literary Supplement (2012)
The subjects are full of charm, humour, pathos and a kind of triumphant dignity.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Its humour and its pathos are both heavy-handed, but its exuberance carries it along.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
The course of this pair's friendship has sharp pathos amid the film 's studied eccentricity.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
It's a juggling act between funny and grim For me the comedy and pathos is all intertwined.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
This means we let those voices speak again in all the pathos, power, and beauty of their original utterance.
Christianity Today (2000)
Their dialogue is gauche at times, but that is part of the realism that underpins the film 's wistful pathos.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
In other languages
pathos
British English: pathos NOUN
Pathos is a quality in a situation, film, or play that makes people feel sadness and pity.
...the pathos of man's isolation.
American English: pathos
Brazilian Portuguese: patos
Chinese: > 令人感伤的特质情形、电影或戏剧中
European Spanish: patetismo
French: pathétique
German: Pathos
Italian: pathos
Japanese: 悲劇的要素
Korean: 페이소스
European Portuguese: patos
Latin American Spanish: patetismo
(noun)
Definition
the power, for example in literature, of arousing feelings of pity or sorrow
the pathos of his hopeless situation
Synonyms
sadness
It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that I say farewell.