appeal to pity
Emotional manipulation tactic
An appeal to pity is a rhetorical move that seeks to win agreement by evoking sympathy rather than by offering evidence or sound reasoning.
A defendant's lawyer might describe a difficult childhood to deflect from the facts of the case.
The appeal to pity is considered a logical fallacy because suffering, however real, doesn't establish the truth of a claim: His argument was just an appeal to pity—he never addressed whether the policy actually works.
- sympathyCompassionate understanding of others
- sob storyPitiful excuse for sympathy
- manipulationUnderhanded control of others
- tearsViolent pulls apart
- puppy dog eyesManipulatively innocent expression
tug at heartstrings · heartstrings · guilt · guilt trip · begging · pleading · desperation · mercy · compassion · emotional · woe is me · victim · suffering · crocodile tears · whining · pathetic · charity · empathy
appeal to pityvalid argument
Reasoning where conclusion follows necessarily
logical proof · deductive reasoning · inductive reasoning · empirical evidence · syllogism
appeal to pityappeal to fear
Persuasion exploiting anxiety
scare tactics · intimidation · threat · appeal to authority · triumphalism
appeal, appeals, appealed, appealing, appellant, appellate, appellation, pity, pities