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In Greek, ēthos means “custom” or “character.” As originally used by Aristotle, it referred to a person’s character or personality, especially with respect to a balance between passion and caution. In English, ethos is used today to refer to the practices or values that distinguish one person, organization, or society from others. In rhetoric, ethos is often studied alongside pathos and logos as a technique to successfully persuade an audience. Related terms in the English language include ethics (“a branch of philosophy dealing with what is morally right or wrong”) and ethology (“a branch of knowledge dealing with human character and with its formation and evolution”).
Examples of ethos in a Sentence
Shane Harris, The Atlantic, 6 Feb. 2025
The irony is that their speculative ethos, when turned back on itself, reveals its own contradictions: a worldview that claims to safeguard humanity’s future could just as easily be entrenching the very power structures that threaten it.
—Rebecca Charbonneau, Scientific American, 6 Feb. 2025
This ethos had affinities with that of Louise Hay, a best-selling New Age author who ran support groups in the nineteen-eighties and nineties for people with H.I.V. and AIDS, and who argued for the power of positive thinking, verbal affirmation, and unusual diets in overcoming disease.
—Jessica Winter, The New Yorker, 6 Feb. 2025
Founded on the ethos of art as a form of mystic healing, the label reimagines the family heirloom—and invites its patrons to examine their relationship with objects.
—Nia Shumake, Essence, 3 Feb. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near ethos
Cite this Entry
“Ethos.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethos. Accessed 19 Feb. 2025.
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