pathetic

Rarely pa·thet·i·cal

[puh-thet-ik]

adjective

1. 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.

   Synonyms: sad, tragic, piteous, plaintive

2. Informal.,  miserably or contemptibly inadequate.

   In return for our investment we get a pathetic three percent interest. The carpenter we hired is pathetic.

3. Archaic.,  pertaining to, caused by, or affecting the emotions.

   pathetic outbursts.

   Synonyms: emotional, tender, touching

pathetic

/ pəˈθɛtɪk /

adjective

1. evoking or expressing pity, sympathy, etc

2. distressingly inadequate

   the old man sat huddled in front of a pathetic fire

3. informal,  ludicrously or contemptibly uninteresting or worthless

   the standard of goalkeeping in amateur football today is pathetic

4. obsolete,  of or affecting the feelings

plural noun

1. pathetic sentiments

Other Word Forms

• pathetically adverb
• patheticalness noun
• hyperpathetic adjective
• hyperpathetically adverb
• quasi-pathetic adjective
• quasi-pathetically adverb
• unpathetic adjective
• unpathetically adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of pathetic¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of pathetic¹

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

Example Sentences

In August, the US doubled a reward for any information leading to his arrest to $50m and accused him of being "one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world" – something the government dismissed as "pathetic."

Read more on BBC

At the U.N. on Tuesday he said, “Windmills are pathetic” and warned countries that “if you don’t get away from the green-energy scam, your country is going to fail.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

When she loses her cycle, she is forced to run up the helix of a parking garage at normal human speed, giving a pathetic comedic element to someone who ought to be terrifying.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

After many months of being conspicuously pathetic, I have, to my great surprise, advanced to not terrible.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This led to a sharp rebuke from Eritrea's Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel, who dismissed the rhetoric as "too crass and pathetic to sell".

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• deplorable 
• feeble 
• heartbreaking 
• miserable 
• pitiful 
• poignant 
• sorry 
• woeful