hathos

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English

Etymology

Blend of hate +‎ pathos. According to journalist Alex Heard, this word was coined in 1985 when he was searching for a word to describe the "cringe-y feeling you get when celebs go AWOL" and attended a Super Bowl party where he and another guest, then-Bob Dole press aide Scott Richardson, exchanged ideas until they came up with "hathos."[1][2] The word's first apparent use in print was in an essay by Heard, published in The Washington Post on May 17, 1987.[3]

Noun

hathos (uncountable)

  1. Enjoyment derived from hatred of a person or thing.
    • 1996 January 7, Rod Dreher, “Hate it, Love it”, in Sun-Sentinel:
      The patron saint of hathos connoisseurs, H.L. Mencken, was a brave soul, but even a fellow as sturdy and unstinting as he might have been struck dumb in the presence of the extravagantly hathotic Kathie Lee Gifford.

Quotations

References

  1. ^ "More on the origins of Hathos"
  2. ^ Andrew Sullivan, "I AM HATHOS!", The Daily Dish, 21 June 2001
  3. ^ hathos on WordSpy.com