bathos

noun
UK: /ˈbeɪθɒs/
US: /ˈbeɪθɑːs/

  1. A sudden change in speech or writing from a serious or important subject to a silly or very ordinary one.

    1. The play suffered from bathos when the hero cried about his cat. [ ] [ ]
    2. The novel's ending, intended to be tragic, dissolved into unintentional bathos due to its overly sentimental tone. [ ] [ ]

  2. An effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous.

    1. The movie's bathos ruined what could have been a very emotional scene. [ ] [ ]
    2. The comedian's routine relied heavily on bathos, alternating serious reflections with sudden absurd jokes. [ ] [ ]

Synonyms

anticlimax sentimentalism triviality

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "bathos" in English means: A sudden change in speech or writing from a serious or important subject to a silly or very ordinary one., An effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous..

The phonetic transcription of "bathos" is /ˈbeɪθɒs/ in British English and /ˈbeɪθɑːs/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "bathos": anticlimax, sentimentalism, triviality.

Example usage of "bathos": "The play suffered from bathos when the hero cried about his cat.". More examples on the page.