pathetic

[puh-thet-ik]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pathetic ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

causing or evoking pity, sympathetic sadness, sorrow, etc.; pitiful; pitiable: a pathetic letter; a pathetic sight.

affecting or moving the emotions.

pertaining to or caused by the emotions.

miserably or contemptibly inadequate: In return for our investment we get a pathetic three percent interest.

Often pa·thet·i·cal.

Origin of pathetic

1590–1600; < Late Latin pathēticus < Greek pathētikós sensitive equivalent to pathēt(ós) made or liable to suffer (verbid of páschein to suffer + -ikos -ic

Related formspa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverbpa·thet·i·cal·ness, nounhy·per·pa·thet·ic, adjectivehy·per·pa·thet·i·cal, adjectivehy·per·pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverbqua·si-pa·thet·ic, adjectivequa·si-pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverbun·pa·thet·ic, adjectiveun·pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverb

Can be confusedbathetic pathetic

Synonyms for pathetic

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pathetic ON THESAURUS.COM

1. plaintive. 2. touching, tender. 3. emotional.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pathetic

poignant, feeble, woeful, heartbreaking, miserable, pitiful, deplorable, sorry, distressing, heartrending, inadequate, lamentable, meager, melting, moving, paltry, petty, piteous, plaintive, poor

Examples from the Web for pathetic

Contemporary Examples of pathetic

And we can listen to the pathetic, creepy bravado of a former vice president, wrong on nearly every decision he made.
Dick Cheney vs. ‘Unbroken’
Mike Barnicle
December 15, 2014
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
Telling people that you knew her when would just be pathetic.
Is Bigger Better for St. Vincent?
David Yaffe
December 4, 2014
Fortunately, they are drawn from a pathetic preterite far beneath the contempt of our cultural elite.
The FBI’s Bogus ISIS Bust
James Poulos
November 21, 2014
Conning people into buying a book to prepare for an "Ebola apocalypse" is not just irresponsible, it's pathetic.
The Sham, Scaremongering Guide to Ebola
Abby Haglage
November 20, 2014

Historical Examples of pathetic

The fate of Owthorne, a village once existing not far from Withernsea, is pathetic.
Yorkshire Painted And Described
Gordon Home
Her fingers were stiff, but so was her will: the way she stuck to her work was pathetic.
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
You must have your soup, and (I do not mean to be pathetic) what is soup without salt?
Punchinello, Vol. 1, No. 7, May 14, 1870
Various
The father looked at Mary with a reproach that was pathetic.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
There was a pathetic pleading in the dulled eyes with which he regarded the Inspector.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana

British Dictionary definitions for pathetic

pathetic

adjective

evoking or expressing pity, sympathy, etc

distressingly inadequatethe old man sat huddled in front of a pathetic fire

British informal ludicrously or contemptibly uninteresting or worthlessthe standard of goalkeeping in amateur football today is pathetic

obsolete of or affecting the feelings

pl n

pathetic sentiments

Derived Formspathetically, adverb

Word Origin for pathetic

C16: from French pathétique, via Late Latin from Greek pathetikos sensitive, from pathos suffering; see pathos

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

Word Origin and History for pathetic

adj.

1590s, "affecting the emotions, exciting the passions," from Middle French pathétique "moving, stirring, affecting" (16c.), from Late Latin patheticus, from Greek pathetikos "subject to feeling, sensitive, capable of emotion," from pathetos "liable to suffer," verbal adjective of pathein "to suffer" (see pathos). Meaning "arousing pity, pitiful" is first recorded 1737. Colloquial sense of "so miserable as to be ridiculous" is attested from 1937. Related: Pathetical (1570s); pathetically. Pathetic fallacy (1856, first used by Ruskin) is the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects.