bathos
/ˈbeɪθɒs/
"bathos" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bathos” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Overdone or treacly attempts to inspire pathos.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bathos · bathos · English
bathos · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bathos |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbeɪθɒs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bathos” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bathos is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbeɪθɒs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 8 senses are on record.
bathos has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Ancient Greek βάθος (báthos, “depth”). Employed ironically following Alexander Pope's Peri Bathous, lampooning various errors in contemporary writers. The correct English form is bathos, spelled B-A-T-H-O-S.
Definition
- 1Overdone or treacly attempts to inspire pathos.
- 2A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to
- 3A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:
- 4A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:
- 5A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:
- 6A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:
- 7The ironic use of such failure for satiric or humorous effect.
- 8A nadir, a low point particularly in one's career.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bathos appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I like you more than I can say; but I'll not sink into a bathos of sentiment...
While a plain and direct Road is pav'd to their ὐψος, or sublime; no Track has been yet chalk'd out to arrive at our βάθος, or profund.
Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek βάθος (báthos, “depth”). Employed ironically following Alexander Pope's Peri Bathous, lampooning various errors in contemporary writers.
Synonyms
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.