Pathetic PATHET'IC PATHET'ICAL, a. [Gr. passion; to
suffer.] Affecting or moving the passions, particularly pity, sorrow,
grief or other tender emotion; as a pathetic song or discourse; pathetic
expostulation. No theory of the passions can teach a man to be
pathetic. PATHET'IC, n. Style or manner adapted to awaken
the passions, especially tender emotions. A musician at Venice is
said to have so excelled in the pathetic, as to be able to play any of
his auditors into distraction.
pathetic
adj 1: deserving or inciting pity; "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" [syn: hapless, miserable,
misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable,
pitiful, poor, wretched]
2: inspiring mixed contempt and pity; "their efforts were
pathetic"; "pitiable lack of character"; "pitiful exhibition
of cowardice" [syn: pathetic, pitiable, pitiful]
3: inspiring scornful pity; "how silly an ardent and
unsuccessful wooer can be especially if he is getting on in
years"- Dashiell Hammett [syn: pathetic, ridiculous,
silly]
pathetic adjectiveEtymology: Middle French or Late Latin; Middle French
pathetique, from Late Latin patheticus, from Greek
pathētikos capable of feeling, pathetic, from paschein (aorist
pathein) to experience, suffer — more at pathosDate:
1598 1. having a capacity to move one to either compassionate
or contemptuous pity 2. marked by sorrow or melancholy ;sad3. pitifully inferior or inadequate <the restaurant's
pathetic service> 4.absurd, laughable <a
pathetic costume> Synonyms:seemoving •
patheticaladjective • patheticallyadverb
pathetic adj. 1 arousing pity or sadness or contempt. 2 Brit. colloq. miserably inadequate. 3 archaic of the emotions. Phrases and idioms: pathetic fallacy the attribution of
human feelings and responses to inanimate things, esp. in art and literature. Derivatives: pathetically adv. Etymology: F pathétique f. LL patheticus f. Gk pathetikos (as
PATHOS)
pathetic
1. If you describe a person or animal as pathetic, you mean that they are sad and weak
or helpless, and they make you feel very sorry for them.
The small group of onlookers presented a pathetic sight...She now looked small, shrunken and pathetic.ADJ
• patheticallyShe was pathetically thin.ADV
2. If you describe someone or something as pathetic, you mean that they make you feel
impatient or angry, often because they are weak or not very good.
What pathetic excuses...It's a pound for a small glass of wine, which is pathetic.ADJ [disapproval]
• patheticallyFive women in a group of 18 people is a pathetically small number.ADV: ADV adj
pathetic
pəˈθetɪk adj. 1 arousing pity or sadness or contempt. 2
Brit. colloq. miserably inadequate. 3 archaic of the emotions. øpathetic
fallacy the attribution of human feelings and responses to inanimate things,
esp. in art and literature. øøpathetically adv. [F path÷tique f. LL
patheticus f. Gk pathetikos (as PATHOS)]
Pathetic \Pa*thet"ic\, a. [L. patheticus, Gr. ?, fr. ?, ?, to
suffer: cf. F. path['e]tique. See Pathos.]
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.
Pathetic muscle (Anat.), the superior oblique muscle of the
eye.
Pathetic nerve (Anat.), the fourth cranial, or trochlear,
nerve, which supplies the superior oblique, or pathetic,
muscle of the eye.
The pathetic, a style or manner adapted to arouse the
tender emotions.
pathetic
pəˈθetɪk adj.
1 moving, stirring, affecting, affective, touching, emotional, emotive, poignant, tragic,
heart-rending, heart-breaking, pitiful, pitiable, piteous, plaintive, wretched, miserable,
sorrowful, grievous, sad, doleful, dolorous, mournful, woeful, lamentable: The boat people told
a pathetic tale of the hardship of weeks in the open sea.
2 meagre, paltry, feeble, inadequate, poor, petty, puny, sorry, piddling, Colloq measly,
Slang crummy: He made a pathetic effort to pull himself together. A return of three per cent
a year is pathetic.
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