Bathos Definition

bāthŏs, -thôs
noun
An abrupt, presumably unintended juxtaposition of the exalted and the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect.
American Heritage
An abrupt, often ludicrous change from the lofty to the ordinary or trivial in writing or speech; unintentional anticlimax.
Webster's New World
An anticlimax.
American Heritage
False pathos; sentimentality.
Webster's New World
Insincere or grossly sentimental pathos.
American Heritage
Synonyms:

Origin of Bathos

  • From Ancient Greek βάθος (bathos, “depth”). Used metaphorically from 1638 (Robert Sanderson). First used ironically by Pope (Bathos, 1727), in contrast to ὕψος (hypsos, “sublimity”).

    From Wiktionary

  • Greek depth from bathus deep

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

Bathos Sentence Examples

  • In the Bathos he was classed with the parrots and the tortoises.

  • Though Wagner cannot as yet be confidently credited with a satiric intention in his bathos, the fact remains that all the Rossinian passages are associated with the character of Daland, so as to express his vulgar delight at the prospect of finding a rich son-in-law in the mysterious Dutch seaman.

  • The study of the great models of the past serves to show how these masters achieved the truly sublime without falling victim to bathos.

Find Similar Words

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Words Starting With

BBABAT

Words Ending With

SOSHOS

Unscrambles

bathos

Words Starting With B and Ending With S

Starts With B & Ends With SStarts With BA & Ends With SStarts With B & Ends With OS

Word Length

6 Letter Words6 Letter Words Starting With B6 Letter Words Ending With S