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
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pathetic in a sentence
And yet I am not unmindful of several excellent pathetical Passages in both those immortal Poems.
The Preface to the Aeneis of Virgil (1718) | Joseph TrappElizabeth has been called a fool for listening to such pathetical ‘love letters’: and then hardhearted for not listening to them.
Sir Walter Raleigh and his Time | Charles KingsleyFor what is a heap of the most pathetical words to God Almighty; or the dedication of any place or time to him?
No Cross, No Crown | William PennA most weighty and pathetical discourse: they that know anything of God may savour something divine in it.
No Cross, No Crown | William PennThere was something pathetical in his discontent with his secluded life which touched Wogan to the heart.
Clementina | A.E.W. Mason
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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