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.
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
Braff: I think that it’s Bill’s unique mix of comedy and pathos and emotion and fantasy.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 20, 2026
Emma Grimsley’s soprano had the necessary brightness and coloratura flexibility for Manon, but her monochromatic timbre missed the character’s pathos.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 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
“The Holy Father bids us to accept your proffer, Lancelot” The pathos which was growing in the room was broken by the Orkney faction for the second time.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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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