Master confusing words with ease
Pathos vs. Bathos
Pathos
Examples:
The film's pathos left the audience in tears.Her letter was filled with genuine pathos, moving everyone.Pathos in his speech evoked empathy from the listeners.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Bathos
Examples:
The novel's shift from tragedy to humor was pure bathos.Stepping from the sublime to the ridiculous gave the speech its bathos.The painting's sudden use of cartoonish figures was intentional bathos.
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Ways to tell them apart:
- Pathos and bathos sound similar, but they refer to different concepts.
- Pathos is related to evoking emotions, while bathos refers to an abrupt shift to absurdity or triviality.
- Remember: pathos involves a deep emotional appeal, whereas bathos often results in unintended humor.
- Pathos engages with sincere emotional depth, whereas bathos is about unintentional descent into the ridiculous.
- Consider an effective film scene that makes you cry as an example of pathos, and a poorly executed one that makes you laugh instead of cry as an example of bathos.
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