# bathos

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbeɪθɒs/

## Definitions
1. Overdone or treacly attempts to inspire pathos.
2. A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to
3. A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:
4. A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:
5. A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:
6. A risible failure on the part of a work of art to properly affect its audience, particularly owing to:
7. The ironic use of such failure for satiric or humorous effect.
8. A nadir, a low point particularly in one's career.

## Etymology
Borrowed from Ancient Greek βάθος (báthos, “depth”). Employed ironically following Alexander Pope's Peri Bathous, lampooning various errors in contemporary writers.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bathos