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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
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.
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2024
But there’s also a pathos to the character that makes his queasy deal easier to stomach.
—Hershal Pandya, Vulture, 28 Oct. 2024
Earlier this year, Steve Carrell brought his distinct pathos—and humor—to Anton Chekhov’s classic meditation on money, class, work, the environment, and masculinity in a production at Lincoln Center Theater.
—Chloe Schama, Vogue, 27 Sep. 2024
As always, Lanthimos’ ability to mix humor with pathos remains unmatched—perhaps never more so than here.
—Jennifer M. Wood, WIRED, 29 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for pathos 
Dictionary Entries Near pathos
Cite this Entry
“Pathos.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pathos. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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