Standard Lemma guide

pathos

noun · 8 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

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈpeɪˌθɒs/
  • UK: /ˈpɑːθɒs/
  • UK: /ˈpæθɒs/ spelling pronunciation
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • US: /ˈpeɪˌθɑs/
  • US: /ˈpeɪˌθɔs/
  • US: /ˈpeɪˌθoʊs/
  • US: /ˈpæˌθoʊs/
  • CMU ARPABET: P EY1 TH AA0 S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 20 August 2018, Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in The Guardian, Young women are smashing it at Edinburgh as the #MeToo legacy kicks in Pritchard-McLean’s show is perfectly constructed, and at times deeply moving to the point where some audience members were near tears, yet the pathos is undercut by true belly laughs – but don’t trust me, read the reviews.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: patheticness

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker uses emotional appeals to the audience as the main form of persuasion.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, rhetoric, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

An author's attempt to evoke a feeling of pity or sympathetic sorrow for a character.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: literature, media, publishing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

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.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: human-sciences, lifestyle, philosophy, religion, sciences, theology

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Suffering; the enduring of active stress or affliction.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the film captured all the pathos of their situation

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: poignancy

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: quality

7

noun

Meaning 7

a style that has the power to evoke feelings

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

8

noun

Meaning 8

a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the blind are too often objects of pity

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: commiseration, pity, ruth

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: sympathy, fellow feeling

History

Etymology

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

Across languages

Translations

27 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: патос (patos) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Chinese Mandarin: 感傷 /感伤 (gǎnshāng) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Chinese Mandarin: 哀婉 (āiwǎn) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Chinese Mandarin: 悲愴 /悲怆 (bēichuàng) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Esperanto: patoso — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Finnish: paatos — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • French: pathétique — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Greek: πάθος (páthos) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Japanese: パトス (patosu) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Japanese: 悲愴 (hisō) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Polish: patos — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Portuguese: pathos — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Portuguese: páthos — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Portuguese: patos — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Russian: подъём (podʺjóm) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Russian: воодушевле́ние (vooduševlénije) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Russian: энтузиа́зм (entuziázm) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Russian: па́фос (páfos) — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Spanish: pathos — the quality or property of anything which touches the feelings or excites emotions
  • Chinese Mandarin: 感染力 (gǎnrǎnlì) — a writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals
  • Danish: patos — a writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals
  • Finnish: tunteisiin vetoaminen — a writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals
  • Finnish: paatos — a writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals
  • Greek: πάθος (páthos) — a writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals
  • Polish: patos — a writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals
  • Russian: па́фос (páfos) — a writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals
  • Swedish: patos — a writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals