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
And in the crucial scene when Sonny is put on the phone with Leon, whom he calls his wife—Sonny’s motive is to pay for Leon’s sex-reassignment surgery—he strikes moving notes of pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026
Instead it ventures into something creator Seth MacFarlane and company usually avoid, genuine pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 12, 2026
That gossip set the tone for the story of Hollywood: adventure, pathos, arrogance, comedy and a dramatic twist ending.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 15, 2026
As I argued fleetingly in my discussion of pathos, the joke can do more than just perk up a drowsing audience.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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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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