pathos
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Berlant describes their shared sensibility, the ability to simultaneously play comedy and pathos, as a kind of freedom.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
Even the sequences of obvious pathos are earned, over and over again.
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
Instead it ventures into something creator Seth MacFarlane and company usually avoid, genuine pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
Gertrude never quite comes into focus, but the pathos of Ophelia, maddened by grief, is enhanced by the simple yet forceful way Izzard helplessly pounds her chest.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 25, 2026
It participates in the pathos appeal inasmuch as it stirs an audience’s emotions to laughter—but more importantly, it participates in the ethos appeal, inasmuch as laughter is based on a set of common assumptions.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
Vocabulary lists containing pathos
Argumentative Writing
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AP English Lit exam terms
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The AP English Exam: Rhetorical and Literary Terms 1
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