HOW TO PRONOUNCE
pathos
/ˈpeɪˌθɑs/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:41
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What does pathos mean?
noun
- 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.
More meanings (2)
noun
- 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.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈpeɪˌθɑs/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Other dictionary pronunciations
/ˈpeɪˌθɔs//ˈpeɪˌθoʊs//ˈpæˌθoʊs/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
At times this deep strain of pathos was all that could be heard, and scarcely heard sighing amid a desolate silence.
A heroine in a hack post-chaise is such a blow upon sentiment, as no attempt at grandeur or pathos can withstand.
More book examples (3)
Then the ventilator in the window-pane spasmodically started off for a new spin, and the pathos of Donald’s song was temporarily effaced.
She looked at her mother with a smile that shone through her tears, and a pathos that quivered round her jesting lips.
"Give it a high moral tone, with a dash of pathos."--I dwelt upon the parentless condition of these little wards of Society.