1
a
: the sudden appearance of the commonplace in otherwise elevated matter or style
b
2
: exceptional commonplaceness : triteness
3
: insincere or overdone pathos : sentimentalism
Examples of bathos in a Sentence
The serious message of the film is ruined by the bathos of its ridiculous ending.
a novel that wallows in bathos
Recent Examples on the Web
At the same time, no one in metal was funnier, more in touch with his own bathos, more post–Spinal Tap, in a sense, than Ozzy, especially in his shambling-paterfamilias incarnation on MTV’s reality show The Osbournes.
—
James Parker, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2025
Playing with comic bathos is a dangerous game when aiming for sincerity.
—David Benedict, Variety, 12 Sep. 2024
Elsewhere, a black granite sarcophagus is meant to be an homage to AIDS victims; this, too, empties into bathos.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 14 June 2024
But there is an inescapable bathos in the way Ronaldo glorifies these achievements.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 31 May 2024
Glazer’s movie is a presentation of nearly unfathomable horrors by way of bathos, alluding to enormities in the form of minor daily inconveniences.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023
Arbus captured expressions of exuberance, delight in companionship, parental tenderness, self-love, piercing intelligence, ironic fatigue, suavity, bathos, aggression, perplexity and various expressions of curiosity about (or boredom with) the process of having one’s photograph taken.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2022
Unlike the latter, our French super-doctor ends his life in bathos.
—Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 16 May 2022
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James Parker, The Atlantic, 12 Sep. 2025
Playing with comic bathos is a dangerous game when aiming for sincerity.
—David Benedict, Variety, 12 Sep. 2024
Elsewhere, a black granite sarcophagus is meant to be an homage to AIDS victims; this, too, empties into bathos.
—Jerry Saltz, Vulture, 14 June 2024
But there is an inescapable bathos in the way Ronaldo glorifies these achievements.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 31 May 2024
Glazer’s movie is a presentation of nearly unfathomable horrors by way of bathos, alluding to enormities in the form of minor daily inconveniences.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 14 Dec. 2023
Arbus captured expressions of exuberance, delight in companionship, parental tenderness, self-love, piercing intelligence, ironic fatigue, suavity, bathos, aggression, perplexity and various expressions of curiosity about (or boredom with) the process of having one’s photograph taken.
—Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2022
Unlike the latter, our French super-doctor ends his life in bathos.
—Tunku Varadarajan, WSJ, 16 May 2022
Cite this Entry
“Bathos.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bathos. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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