Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

bathos

noun ba·thos \ ˈbā-ˌthäs \
See What's Trending Now See More Trending Words

Definition of bathos

1 a : the sudden appearance of the commonplace in otherwise elevated matter or style
b : anticlimax
2 : exceptional commonplaceness : triteness
3 : insincere or overdone pathos : sentimentalism

See bathos defined for English-language learners

Examples of bathos in a Sentence

  1. The serious message of the film is ruined by the bathos of its ridiculous ending.

  2. a novel that wallows in bathos

Recent Examples of bathos from the Web

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bathos.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of bathos

Greek, literally, depth

Other Literature Terms

apophasis, bildungsroman, bowdlerize, caesura, coda, doggerel, euphemism, poesy, prosody

BATHOS Defined for English Language Learners

bathos

noun

Definition of bathos for English Language Learners

  • : the sudden appearance of a silly idea or event in a book, movie discussion, etc., that is serious in tone

Learn More about bathos

  1. See words that rhyme with bathos Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about bathos

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up bathos? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

petard

play

a case containing an explosive

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. embolization 'the process by which a blood vessel or organ is obstructed by a material mass'

  2. oleaginous 'marked by an offensively ingratiating manner or quality'

  3. pansexual 'sexual desire or attraction...not limited to a particular gender identity or sexual orientation'

  4. symbiote 'an organism living in symbiosis'

  5. charlatan 'faker or fraud'

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

bathos

Test Your Vocabulary

May 2018 Words of the Day Quiz

  • spring-flowers
  • Which is a synonym of raillery?
True or False

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ
SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-5b05d8545c817
'Folksonomy': Let’s Get Organized

Tag the way you want to tag.

image564383649
12 Words from All Over the Map

Some words say exactly where they're from

alt-5b032d1aef0e9
'Ingenious' and 'Ingenuous': More Than a Typo

One's clever, the other's like a child

alt-5b0310daaafde
A Matter-of-Fact Look at 'Deadpan'

Surely we can be serious.

Ask the Editors

video-ghost-words
Ghost Word

The story of an imaginary word that managed to sneak past our editors and enter the dictionary.

image1760257654
2017 Word of the Year: Behind the Scenes

How we chose 'feminism'

video-literally
Literally

How to use a word that (literally) drives some people nuts.

video-his-or-her
Is Singular 'They' a Better Choice?

The awkward case of 'his or her'

Word Games

spring-flowers
May 2018 Words of the Day Quiz

We’re already at the end of May?!

Take the quiz
image1676440788
Words Used by Nabokov Quiz

How familiar are you with Nabokov’s unfamiliar vocabulary?

Take the quiz
True or False
True or False?

Test your knowledge - and maybe learn something along the way.

Take the quiz
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® Sprint

SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!

Play the game
Examples: bathos in a Sentence