the quality or power, esp in literature or speech, of arousing feelings of pity, sorrow, etc a feeling of sympathy or pity
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
pa•thos /ˈpeɪθɑs, -θoʊs, -θɔs/USA pronunciation
n. [uncountable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025- the quality or power in life or art of causing a feeling of pity or compassion.
pa•thos
(pā′thos, -thōs, -thôs),USA pronunciation n.
- the quality or power in an actual life experience or in literature, music, speech, or other forms of expression, of evoking a feeling of pity or compassion.
- pity.
- [Obs.]suffering.
- Greek páthos suffering, sensation, akin to páschein to suffer
- 1570–80
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
'pathos' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
-pathy
- affecting
- antipathetic
- apathy
- bathos
- hydrocephalus
- overplay
- pathetic
- patho-
- purple prose
- sob sister
- sympathy
- trait