pathos

noun

pa·​thos ˈpā-ˌthäs How to pronounce pathos (audio)
-ˌthȯs,
-ˌthōs How to pronounce pathos (audio)
 also  ˈpa-
1
: an element in experience or in artistic representation evoking pity or compassion
2
: an emotion of sympathetic pity

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Pathos Entered English in the 1500s

The Greek word páthos means "experience, misfortune, emotion, condition,” and comes from Greek path-, meaning “experience, undergo, suffer.” In English, pathos usually refers to the element in an experience or in an artistic work that makes us feel compassion, pity, or sympathy. The word is a member of a big family: empathy is the ability to share someone else’s feelings. Pathetic (in its gentlest uses) describes things that move us to pity. Though pathology is not literally "the study of suffering," it is "the study of diseases." Other relatives of pathos include sympathy, apathy, and antipathy.

Examples of pathos in a Sentence

There is a pathos to the deflated certainties that left the Washington lawyer Leonard Garment weeping, inconsolable, outside the Senate chamber as the debate was ended. Garry Wills, New York Times Book Review, 10 Sept. 1989
Many schools at the end of the Depression were poor, but the threadbare nature of Christchurch was almost Dickensian in its pathos. William Styron, This Quiet Dust and Other Writings, (1953) 1982
The struggle back to solvency was arduous, and the stubborn determination and reserves of strength that it called forth from him in his mid-forties made him all at once a figure of considerable pathos and heroism in my eyes, a cross of a kind between Captain Ahab and Willy Loman. Philip Roth, Reading Myself and Others, (1961) 1975
Our knowledge of his tragic end adds an element of pathos to the story of his early success.
Recent Examples on the Web And yet, the slow accumulation of pathos exerts a grip. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Feb. 2024 The first few episodes in particular were almost oppressively bleak, and there were later points where the humor and the pathos seemed to awkwardly co-exist. Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 15 Feb. 2024 Annie Wilkes is one helluva character, all scenery gnawing with glints of pathos. Lisa Kennedy, The Denver Post, 1 Feb. 2024 The actress brings a bitter pathos to Hilary, who has learned to survive by holding a part of herself back from everyone who tries to love her. Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 23 Jan. 2024 The second season of FX's The Bear delivered for those who needed more pathos behind the PTSD-inducing restaurant scenes. Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 29 Dec. 2023 Beckman, a stalwart of D.C. theater, especially finds pockets of pathos in a largely static pageant by striding purposefully to a caldera of despair without falling in. Rhoda Feng, Washington Post, 6 Feb. 2024 The concept, if esoteric, provides a feast of pathos and pleasure, and a shimmering argument for the interconnectedness of everything. The New Yorker, 29 Jan. 2024 Each of the three strands is approached for pathos, not shock. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pathos.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Greek páthos "experience, misfortune, emotion, condition," noun derivative of a verbal base path- "experience, undergo, suffer" (present páschō, páschein, aorist épathon), going back to *p(h)nth-, zero ablaut grade of a base seen also in pénthos "grief, sorrow," of uncertain origin

Note: The Greek verb has been compared with Lithuanian kentù, kę͂sti "to undergo, suffer" (assuming that t for d is secondary) and Old Irish césaid "(s/he) suffers, endures" (< *kwendh-s-?), though this would require Indo-European *kwendh-, with a normally unacceptable combination of voiceless stop and voiced aspirated stop in a single root. Alternatively, Greek path-, penth- has been explained as an idiosyncratic semantic development of Indo-European *bhendh- "bind" ("be bound" > "suffer"?) (see bind entry 1).

First Known Use

1591, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of pathos was in 1591

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Dictionary Entries Near pathos

Cite this Entry

“Pathos.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pathos. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

pathos

noun
: an element in life or in artistic representation of it that moves one to pity
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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