pathetic
Americanadjective
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causing or evoking pity, sympathetic sadness, sorrow, etc.; pitiful; pitiable.
Conditions at the refugee camp were far more pathetic than anything our training had prepared us for.
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Informal. miserably or contemptibly inadequate.
In return for our investment we get a pathetic three percent interest. The carpenter we hired is pathetic.
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Archaic. pertaining to, caused by, or affecting the emotions.
pathetic outbursts.
adjective
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evoking or expressing pity, sympathy, etc
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distressingly inadequate
the old man sat huddled in front of a pathetic fire
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informal ludicrously or contemptibly uninteresting or worthless
the standard of goalkeeping in amateur football today is pathetic
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obsolete of or affecting the feelings
plural noun
Other Word Forms
- hyperpathetic adjective
- hyperpathetically adverb
- pathetically adverb
- patheticalness noun
- quasi-pathetic adjective
- quasi-pathetically adverb
- unpathetic adjective
- unpathetically adverb
Etymology
Origin of pathetic
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Middle French pathétique or from Late Latin pathēticus, from Greek pathētikós “capable of emotion, impassioned, sensitive,” equivalent to pathēt(ós) “subject to suffering; one who has suffered; subject to external influence or change; (in medicine) diseased” (derivative of páschein “to suffer”) + -ikos adjective suffix; -ic
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Puny and pathetic as Colin appears, he begins to seem like the braver of the two.
From Los Angeles Times
My knees shook so badly as we walked through the camp, I felt sure anyone could see through my pathetic pantomime.
From Literature
I’m even looking forward to homeroom…how pathetic is that?
From Literature
Braverman said the reference to her mental health was "a bit pathetic" and "more signs of a bitter and desperate party that seems to be in free-fall".
From BBC
Lord Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong, told the Press Association that Sir Keir would be "pathetic" if he did not raise the case of Lai who is a British citizen.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
