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Bathos

Device
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A rhetorical or poetic effect where a lofty tone or subject abruptly shifts to something trivial or absurd, often for ironic or comic effect.

Detailed Definition
Bathos is a rhetorical descent from the elevated to the trivial or absurd, often unintentionally humorous; in poetry, it occurs when lofty language or grand themes collapse into banality, creating ironic or satirical effect, as famously critiqued by Alexander Pope in Peri Bathous.
Example
Example in poetry:
Bathos in Alexander Pope’s "The Rape of the Lock": "Or stain her honour, or her new brocade"; Modern example: "He died for love—or indigestion"; Romantic bathos: "I wandered lonely as a cloud... / Then stepped in dog poop"; Bathos undercuts grandeur with triviality for comic or critical effect; Satirists use bathos to expose pretension
Additional Notes
Unintentional anticlimax; failed attempt at elevation resulting in absurdity. Contrast with intentional bathetic descent or humor. Term often used critically. Related to purple prose. Avoid through careful revision and tonal consistency.
Other Meanings of “Bathos”
Also Known As
Anticlimax descent from sublime ridiculous drop inadvertent pathos Bathetic fall
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