Pathetic Definition
pə-thĕtĭk
adjective
Expressing, arousing, or intended to arouse pity, sorrow, sympathy, or compassion; pitiful.
Webster's New World
Pitifully unsuccessful, ineffective, etc.
A pathetic performance.
Webster's New World
Arousing or deserving of scornful pity.
American Heritage
Of the emotions.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
Origin of Pathetic
-
From Latin patheticus, from Ancient Greek παθητικός (pathetikos, “subject to feeling, capable of feeling, impassioned"), from παθητός (pathetos, “one who has suffered, subject to suffering"), from πάσχω (paskho, “to suffer").
From Wiktionary
-
French pathétique from Late Latin pathēticus from Greek pathētikos sensitive from pathētos liable to suffer from pathos suffering kwent(h)- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Find Similar Words
Find similar words to pathetic using the buttons below.