Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Arousing or deserving of sympathetic sadness and compassion.
- adjective Arousing or deserving of scornful pity.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Expressing or showing passion; passionate.
- Full of pathos; affecting or moving the feelings; exciting pity, sorrow, grief, or other tender emotion; affecting: as, a pathetic song or discourse; pathetic expostulation.
- In anatomy, trochlear: in designation of or reference to the fourth crania1 nerve.
- noun A trochlear or pathetic nerve; a patheticus.
- Trochlear: in reference to the superior oblique muscle.
- noun Same as
patheticus , 2.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obsolete Expressing or showing anger; passionate.
- adjective Affecting or moving the tender emotions, esp. pity or grief; full of pathos.
- adjective (Anat.) the superior oblique muscle of the eye.
- adjective (Anat.) the fourth cranial, or trochlear, nerve, which supplies the superior oblique, or pathetic, muscle of the eye.
- adjective a style or manner adapted to arouse the tender emotions.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Arousing
pity ,sympathy , orcompassion . - adjective Arousing
scornful pity orcontempt , often due to miserableinadequacy .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective inspiring mixed contempt and pity
- adjective inspiring scornful pity
- adjective deserving or inciting pity
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I mean, the security guard who actually finally spotted her, heard what he called a pathetic little whimper.
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Still scaring the old people – how pathetic is that?
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When you go back and look at the Sonyia Sotomayor situation, the Republicans blasted the pick before they even knew who it was going to be, how pathetic is that .....
Obama to unveil new Afghanistan strategy after Thanksgiving, source says 2009
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Even in my dreams I can't get anything right -- how pathetic is that?
Jilly Gagnon: Sad Dog Jilly Gagnon 2010
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C'mon, just how pathetic is this unionist response to Scotland finally waking up and asserting herself?
Calman- "imaginative" and "bold"? O'Neill 2009
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What's pathetic is how the republicans are continuously able to get away with spreading lies and misinformation.
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What's pathetic is that so many well-meaning young Portlanders buy his line of hype.
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He claims he named his anti-HCR bill after Paul Revere. mary lacewing, just how pathetic is that?
Think Progress » Pataki says he ‘misspoke’ in arguing that RomneyCare is ‘unconstitutional.’ 2010
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I'd call it pathetic, but it's probably better to reserve that term for Anita Kumar's behavior in the press room at the most recent Virginia Governor's debate ...
Not Larry Sabato: 2009
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In time, I achieved a certain pathetic proficiency; I mastered a Bourrée by Bach, a couple of simple pop songs, and found myself a mate.
A Conversation with Chris Stewart, author of Driving Over Lemons 2010
Alphabetized commented on the word pathetic
1) Ridiculous
2) From Greek "Pathos = Pain", which causes pain.
January 5, 2011