Standard Lemma guide

bathos

noun · 11 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • UK: /ˈbeɪθɒs/
  • rhymes with -eɪθɒs

1

noun

Meaning 1

Overdone or treacly attempts to inspire pathos.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: art, arts, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:

An anticlimax: an abrupt transition in style or subject from high to low.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: art, arts, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:

A banality: an unaffectingly clichéd or trite treatment of a topic.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: art, arts, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:

Immaturity: a lack of serious treatment of a topic.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: art, arts, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:

A hyperbole: excessiveness.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: art, arts, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

noun

Meaning 7

The ironic use of such failure for satiric or humorous effect.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

Topics: art, arts, literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

noun

Meaning 8

A nadir, a low point particularly in one's career.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncommon, uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: anticlimax

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: conclusion, end, close, closing, ending

10

noun

Meaning 10

triteness or triviality of style

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: expressive style, style

11

noun

Meaning 11

insincere pathos

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mawkishness

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sentimentality

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βάθος (báthos, “depth”). Employed ironically following Alexander Pope's Peri Bathous, lampooning various errors in contemporary writers.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: bathos — unintentional failure at artistic effect
  • German: Bathos — unintentional failure at artistic effect
  • Polish: batos — unintentional failure at artistic effect
  • Dutch: valse pathos — overdone pathos
  • French: mauvais pathos — overdone pathos
  • Polish: batos — overdone pathos
  • Polish: batos — ironically bad artistic effect