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bathos - 5 dictionary results

ba⋅thos

[bey-thos, -thaws, -thohs]
–noun
1. a ludicrous descent from the exalted or lofty to the commonplace; anticlimax.
2. insincere pathos; sentimentality; mawkishness.
3. triteness or triviality in style.

Origin:
1630–40; < Gk: depth


2. maudlinness, tearfulness; mush, gush, schmaltz. 3. insipidity, inanity.
ba·thos   (bā'thŏs', -thôs')   
n.  
    1. An abrupt, unintended transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect.
    2. An anticlimax.
    3. Insincere or grossly sentimental pathos: "a richly textured man who . . . can be . . . sentimental to the brink of bathos" (Kenneth L. Woodward).
    4. Banality; triteness.
    1. Insincere or grossly sentimental pathos: "a richly textured man who . . . can be . . . sentimental to the brink of bathos" (Kenneth L. Woodward).
    2. Banality; triteness.

[Greek, depth, from bathus, deep.]

Bathos

Ba"thos\, n. [Gr. ? depth, fr. ? deep.] (Rhet.) A ludicrous descent from the elevated to the low, in writing or speech; anticlimax.

bathos 
"anticlimax, a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous," 1727, from Gk. bathos "depth," related to bathys "deep;" introduced by Pope. Bathetic (1834) is either erroneously or humorously formed on the model of pathetic.

bathos

(from Greek bathys, "deep"), unsuccessful, and therefore ludicrous, attempt to portray pathos in art, i.e., to evoke pity, sympathy, or sorrow. The term was first used in this sense by Alexander Pope in his treatise Peri Bathous; or, The Art of Sinking in Poetry (1728). Bathos may result from an inappropriately dignified treatment of the commonplace, the use of elevated language and imagery to describe trivial subject matter, or from such an exaggeration of pathos (emotion provoked by genuine suffering) as to become overly sentimental or ridiculous.

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