Synonyms for pathos
Most common
Definitions
- n. 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.
- n. 2
A form of rhetoric in which the writer or speaker uses emotional appeals to the audience as the main form of persuasion.
Forms
- Plural
- pathoses → pities, commiserations, ruths, poignancies…
Example sentences
- pity It was a pity that Tom couldn't come to our party.
- sadness There was also an irrefutable sadness in his eyes.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| pathos | steady | |
| pity | rising | |
| commiseration | rising | |
| sadness | rising | |
| poignancy | rising |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- pity2, ruth1
- 7 letters
- feeling2, sadness2
- 9 letters
- poignancy3
- 12 letters
- patheticness
- 13 letters
- commiseration
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (pity2 = 2 syllables).