Word origins - 2ed. J. Ayto. 2005.
Bathos — is from the Greek , meaning depth . As used in English it originally referred to a particular type of bad poetry, but it is now used more broadly to cover any ridiculous artwork or performance. More strictly speaking, bathos is unintended humor… … Wikipedia
bathos — anticlimax, a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous, 1727, from Gk. bathos depth, related to bathys deep; introduced by Pope … Etymology dictionary
bathos — [bā′thäs΄, bā′thôs΄] n. [Gr bathos, depth < bathys: see BATHY ] 1. an abrupt, often ludicrous change from the lofty to the ordinary or trivial in writing or speech; unintentional anticlimax 2. false pathos; sentimentality 3. hackneyed quality; … English World dictionary
Bathos — Ba thos (b[=a] th[o^]s), n. [Gr. ba qos depth, fr. baqy s deep.] (Rhet.) A ludicrous descent from the elevated to the low, in writing or speech; anticlimax. [1913 Webster] … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English
Bathos — (gr., Tiefe), bei älteren Ästhetikern das Erhabene; bei neueren gemeine, kriechende, erhaben sein sollende Schreibart … Pierer's Universal-Lexikon
Bathos — (griech. die Tiefe), niedere Rede und Schreibart … Herders Conversations-Lexikon
bathos — *pathos, poignancy Analogous words: mawkishness, maudlinism, soppiness, mushiness (see corresponding adjectives at SENTIMENTAL) … New Dictionary of Synonyms
bathos — [n] sentimentality anticlimax, comedown, letdown, melodrama, mush, schmaltz*; concepts 32,410,689 … New thesaurus
bathos — ► NOUN ▪ (in literature) an unintentional change in mood from the important and serious to the trivial or ridiculous. DERIVATIVES bathetic adjective. ORIGIN Greek, depth … English terms dictionary
bathos — [18] Bathos, the descent from the sublime to the commonplace, means etymologically ‘depth’. It represents Greek báthos, a derivative of the adjective bathús ‘deep’ (which has also given English such technical terms as bathyal ‘of the deep sea’,… … The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins
