- Today's Word
Bathetic
buh-THET-ik
Definition
(adjective) Producing an unintentional effect of anticlimax by being overly sentimental or trivial.
Example
The film’s bathetic ending tried for tears but landed in cringe.
Fun Fact
Bathetic comes from the Greek word bathos, meaning “depth,” and was coined in contrast to “pathos.” While pathos moves us, bathos (and bathetic) refers to failed attempts at emotional gravity—where the result feels laughably out of place. You’ll find this word in reviews of soap operas, bad poetry, and speeches that take themselves way too seriously.
(noun) A natural craving or strong desire; an instinctive inclination toward something
She couldn’t explain her appetence for solo travel — it was simply part of who she was.
Appetence comes from the Latin appetentia, derived from appetere — meaning “to strive after” or “to desire” — itself a combination of ad (“toward”) and petere (“to seek” or “to aim at”). The word entered English in the 17th century, used by philosophers and naturalists to describe instinctive drives in both humans and animals.