BATHOS

Bathos

Bathos is an abrupt transition in style from the exalted to the commonplace, producing a ludicrous effect. While often unintended, bathos may be used deliberately to produce a humorous effect. If bathos is overt, it may be described as Burlesque or mock-heroic. It should not be confused with pathos, a mode of persuasion within the discipline of rhetoric, intended to arouse emotions of sympathy and pity.

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bathos

Noun

  1. Depth, bottom.
  2. An abrupt change in style, usually from high to low; an unintended transition of style; an anticlimax.
  3. Apparent hyperbole or praise marked by comic dilution or digression.
  4. Triteness; triviality; banality.
  5. Overly sentimental and exaggerated pathos.
    I like you more than I can say; but I'll not sink into a bathos of sentiment: Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte - 1847.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: bathos
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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