ˈbāˌthäs, -ȯs, -ōs also ˈba- noun
( -es )
Etymology: Greek, depth, from bathys deep — more at bathy-
1. : the lowest phase : bottom , nadir
the very bathos of stupidity — Frederick Marryat
2.
a. : the sudden or unexpected appearance of the commonplace in writing or speaking otherwise elevated in style or content
this habit of cultivating bathos … has become one of modern poetry's most persistent vices — D.J.Enright
b. : anticlimax , comedown
spring was the real apex of the year. Summer was bathos — Jan Struther
3. : exceptional commonplaceness : triteness , flatness
some have deplored the aridity and attributed to it the bathos and prosing of the less successful ballads — Roger Sharrock
its relentless conformity … filled him at first with a deep feeling of bathos — Fred Majdalany
4. : insincere or overdone pathos : excessive sentimentality : sentimentalism , maudlinism
the bathos of the “my old mammy” theme — Lillian Smith