English Explanatory Dictionary

pathetic fallacy

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A metaphor which consists in treating inanimate objects or concepts as if they were human beings, for instance having thoughts or feelings.

Word forms

pathetic fallacy pathetic fallacies

Etymology

Coined by British cultural critic John Ruskin in 1856 in his work Modern Painters. Here, fallacy does not refer to a logical fallacy, but should be understood as a falsehood, something that is untrue, while pathetic here means caused by an excited state of the feelings; thus, emotional misrepresentation, not contemptible illogic.

Related words

anthropomorphism personification reification
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