Meaning of pathetic fallacy | Babel Free

Definitions

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

Examples

“Taking, therefore, this wide field, it is surely a very notable circumstance, to begin with, that this pathetic fallacy is eminently characteristic of modern painting. For instance, Keats, describing a wave, breaking, out at sea, says of it Down whose green back the short-lived foam, all hoar, Bursts gradual, with a wayward indolence.”

“The next generation of AI will put the pathetic fallacy on steroids.”

CEFR level