pathetic Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. adjective satellite deserving or inciting pity
    poor; wretched; pitiable; piteous; misfortunate; miserable; pitiful; hapless.
    • a hapless victim
    • miserable victims of war
    • the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic"- Galsworthy
    • piteous appeals for help
    • pitiable homeless children
    • a pitiful fate
    • Oh, you poor thing
    • his poor distorted limbs
    • a wretched life
  2. adjective satellite inspiring mixed contempt and pity
    pitiful; pitiable.
    • their efforts were pathetic
    • pitiable lack of character
    • pitiful exhibition of cowardice
  3. adjective satellite inspiring scornful pity
    ridiculous; silly.
    • how silly an ardent and unsuccessful wooer can be especially if he is getting on in years"- Dashiell Hammett

WordNet

Pa*thet"ic adjective
Etymology
L. patheticus, Gr. , fr. , , to suffer: cf. F. pathétique. See Pathos.
Definitions
  1. Expressing or showing anger; passionate. Obs.
  2. Affecting or moving the tender emotions, esp. pity or grief; full of pathos; as, a pathetic song or story. "Pathetic action." Macaulay.
    No theory of the passions can teach a man to be pathetic. E. Porter.

Webster 1913