pathetic
Informal. miserably or contemptibly inadequate: In return for our investment we get a pathetic three percent interest. The carpenter we hired is pathetic.
Archaic. pertaining to, caused by, or affecting the emotions: pathetic outbursts.
Origin of pathetic
1- Rarely pa·thet·i·cal .
Other words for pathetic
Other words from pathetic
- pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverb
- pa·thet·i·cal·ness, noun
- hy·per·pa·thet·ic, adjective
- hy·per·pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverb
- qua·si-pa·thet·ic, adjective
- qua·si-pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverb
- un·pa·thet·ic, adjective
- un·pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverb
Words that may be confused with pathetic
- bathetic, pathetic
Words Nearby pathetic
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pathetic in a sentence
There are some mattresses on the ground and a pathetic amount of necessities.
Part of the fun of declaring yourself being based is getting to label the other side as weak, wrong and pathetic — and, well, cringe.
The Trailer: Based or cringe? A new way of explaining the same old political brawls | David Weigel | July 13, 2021 | Washington PostThis concept was just as sexist, but it at least recognized that women were powerful rather than pathetic.
Myanmar's Women Are Fighting for a New Future After a Long History of Military Oppression | MiMi Aye | June 1, 2021 | TimeThe story Dobbs tells is, by turns, hilarious, pathetic and infuriating.
In the show, the joke is meant to be at Michael’s expense — look at this pathetic man, newly single and so desperate for love that he would settle for a woman he can’t even identify.
Asian women say Hollywood has failed them for decades. They’re ready for meaningful change. | Sonia Rao | March 26, 2021 | Washington Post
And we can listen to the pathetic, creepy bravado of a former vice president, wrong on nearly every decision he made.
But this had to be one of the most pathetic presidential wardrobes in American history.
From Auschwitz to the White House: One Tailor’s American Tale | Martin Greenfield | December 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTTelling people that you knew her when would just be pathetic.
Fortunately, they are drawn from a pathetic preterite far beneath the contempt of our cultural elite.
Conning people into buying a book to prepare for an "Ebola apocalypse" is not just irresponsible, it's pathetic.
Tressan fell suddenly to groaning and wringing his hands a pathetic figure had it been less absurd.
St. Martin's Summer | Rafael SabatiniThe observer might well remain perplexed at the pathetic discord between human work and human wants.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockIt is curious to note children's first manifestations of a sense of the pathetic and the comic as represented in art.
Children's Ways | James SullyHe was fond of the pathetic, but the humorous moved him most, and his lively gifts were welcome wherever we went.
Fifty Years of Railway Life in England, Scotland and Ireland | Joseph TatlowIn spite of his brilliant career, Bernadotte must ever remain one of the most pathetic figures in history.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-Pattison
British Dictionary definitions for pathetic
/ (pəˈθɛtɪk) /
evoking or expressing pity, sympathy, etc
distressingly inadequate: the old man sat huddled in front of a pathetic fire
British informal ludicrously or contemptibly uninteresting or worthless: the standard of goalkeeping in amateur football today is pathetic
obsolete of or affecting the feelings
pathetic sentiments
Origin of pathetic
1Derived forms of pathetic
- pathetically, adverb
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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