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pathetic

 [puh-thet-ik]   Example Sentences Origin

pa·thet·ic

   [puh-thet-ik]
adjective
1.
causing or evoking pity, sympathetic sadness, sorrow, etc.; pitiful; pitiable: a pathetic letter; a pathetic sight.
2.
affecting or moving the feelings.
3.
pertaining to or caused by the feelings.
4.
miserably or contemptibly inadequate: In return for our investment we get a pathetic three percent interest.
Also, pa·thet·i·cal.

Origin:
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 forms
pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverb
pa·thet·i·cal·ness, noun
hy·per·pa·thet·ic, adjective
hy·per·pa·thet·i·cal, adjective
hy·per·pa·thet·i·cal·ly, adverb
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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
COLLAPSE

Can be confused: bathetic, pathetic.

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To pathetic

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Pathetic is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
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Example Sentences
  • Parker's record as a cop fell somewhere between pathetic and comical.
  • Second, there was an almost complete and pathetic failure of responsible leadership.
  • Although it is horrifying, it is also pathetic.
EXPAND
Collins
World English Dictionary
pathetic (pəˈθɛtɪk)
 
—adj
1.  evoking or expressing pity, sympathy, etc
2.  distressingly inadequate: the old man sat huddled in front of a pathetic fire
3.  informal (Brit) ludicrously or contemptibly uninteresting or worthless: the standard of goalkeeping in amateur football today is pathetic
4.  obsolete of or affecting the feelings
 
—pl n
5.  pathetic sentiments
 
[C16: from French pathétique, via Late Latin from Greek pathetikos sensitive, from pathos suffering; see pathos]
 
pa'thetically
 
—adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

pathetic
1598, "affecting the emotions, exciting the passions," from M.Fr. pathétique "moving, stirring, affecting" (16c.), from L.L. patheticus, from Gk. pathetikos "sensitive, capable of emotion," from pathetos "liable to suffer," verbal adj. of pathein "to suffer" (see
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pathos). Meaning "arousing pity, pitiful" is first recorded 1737. Colloquial sense of "so miserable as to be ridiculous" is attested from 1937. Pathetic fallacy (1856, first used by Ruskin) is the attribution of human qualities to inanimate objects.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

sorry definition


and pathetic
  1. mod.
    pitiful; drawing ridicule or scorn; worthy more of condemnation than pity. (In colloquial use these words are usually used in sarcasm and disgust.) : You are one sorry bastard! , You are a pathetic person and a pathetic example of a quarterback!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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