Link Centre Dictionary

pathetic

pat·he·tic

UK/pəˈθɛtɪk/ US/pʌˈθɛtɪk/ common

adjective

1.

deserving or inciting pity

  • “a hapless victim”
  • “miserable victims of war”
  • “the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic” Galsworthy
  • “piteous appeals for help”
  • “pitiable homeless children”
  • “a pitiful fate”
  • “Oh, you poor thing”
  • “his poor distorted limbs”
  • “a wretched life”
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2.

inspiring mixed contempt and pity

  • “their efforts were pathetic”
  • “pitiable lack of character”
  • “pitiful exhibition of cowardice”
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3.

inspiring scornful pity

  • “how silly an ardent and unsuccessful wooer can be especially if he is getting on in years” Dashiell Hammett
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Origin

From Middle French pathétique, from Latin patheticus, from Ancient Greek παθητικός (pathētikós, “subject to feeling, capable of feeling, impassioned”), from παθητός (pathētós, “one who has suffered, subject to suffering”), from πάσχω (páskhō, “to suffer”). By surface analysis, path- + -etic.

Phrases

  • pathetic fallacy
  • pathetic nerve

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.