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pathetic
[ puh-thet-ik ]
adjective
Conditions at the refugee camp were far more pathetic than anything our training had prepared us for.
- 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.
pathetic
/ pəˈθɛtɪk /
adjective
- evoking or expressing pity, sympathy, etc
- distressingly inadequate
the old man sat huddled in front of a pathetic fire
- informal.ludicrously or contemptibly uninteresting or worthless
the standard of goalkeeping in amateur football today is pathetic
- obsolete.of or affecting the feelings
plural noun
- pathetic sentiments
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Derived Forms
- paˈthetically, adverb
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Other Words From
- 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
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Word History and Origins
Origin of pathetic1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of pathetic1
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Example Sentences
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.
Telling 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.
The observer might well remain perplexed at the pathetic discord between human work and human wants.
It is curious to note children's first manifestations of a sense of the pathetic and the comic as represented in art.
He was fond of the pathetic, but the humorous moved him most, and his lively gifts were welcome wherever we went.
In spite of his brilliant career, Bernadotte must ever remain one of the most pathetic figures in history.
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