[syn: anticlimax, bathos]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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] bath towel
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
bathos
n 1: triteness or triviality of style
2: insincere pathos [syn: mawkishness, bathos]
3: a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one [syn:
anticlimax, bathos]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
35 Moby Thesaurus words for "bathos":
anticlimax, bleeding heart, cloyingness, comedown, goo,
hearts-and-flowers, heaviness, heaviness of heart, heavy heart,
heavyheartedness, maudlinness, mawkishness, mush, mushiness,
namby-pamby, namby-pambyism, namby-pambyness, nostalgia,
nostomania, oversentimentalism, oversentimentality, pathos,
romanticism, sadheartedness, sadness, sentiment, sentimentalism,
sentimentality, slop, sloppiness, slush, soap opera, sob story,
sweetness and light, tearjerker