pathos
noun
Form of patho , plural of patho.
Simple meaning
A quality that arouses emotions.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
paythahsSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpeɪθɑs
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)
“The film captured all the pathos of their situation.”
literature
A feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
Suffering; the enduring of active stress or affliction.
literature
An author's attempt to evoke a feeling of pity or sympathetic sorrow for a character.
rhetoric
A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker uses emotional appeals to the audience as the main form of persuasion.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)
Used this way, pathos is a common word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It sounds natural in ordinary conversation and in expressive writing alike.
“The film captured all the pathos of their situation.”
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Everyday but emotionally strong
Usage note
It most often appears in the pattern “pathos of …”, which is worth copying when you use it.
Natural pattern: pathos of …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use pathos
- “The film captured all the pathos of their situation.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.