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pathos - What does it mean?

Definition of 'pathos'

English

Noun

  • 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.
  • * 1874 , Thomas Hardy, Far From The Madding Crowd, 1874:
  • His voice had a genuine pathos now, and his large brown hands perceptibly trembled.
  • (rhetoric) A writer or speaker's attempt to persuade an audience through appeals involving the use of strong emotions such as pity.
  • (literature) An author's attempt to evoke a feeling of pity or sympathetic sorrow for a character.
  • (theology|philosophy) In theology and existentialist ethics following Kierkegaard and Heidegger, a deep and abiding commitment of the heart, as in the notion of "finding your passion" as an important aspect of a fully lived, engaged life.
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