Definition of PATHOS

pathos

Meanings

Plural: pathoses

Noun

  • a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)
    • "the film captured all the pathos of their situation"
  • a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others
  • a style that has the power to evoke feelings
  • The 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.
  • A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker uses emotional appeals to the audience as the main form of persuasion.
  • An author's attempt to evoke a feeling of pity or sympathetic sorrow for a character.
  • In theology and existentialist ethics following Kierkegaard and Heidegger, a deep and abiding commitment of the heart, as in the notion of "finding your passion" as an important aspect of a fully lived, engaged life.
  • Suffering; the enduring of active stress or affliction.

Origin / Etymology

From Ancient Greek πάθος (páthos, “suffering”).

Scrabble Score: 11

pathos is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
pathos is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pathos is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 11

pathos is a valid Words With Friends word