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- Dictionarypa·thet·ic/pəˈTHedik/
adjective
- 1. arousing pity, especially through vulnerability or sadness: "she looked so pathetic that I bent down to comfort her" Similar Opposite
- 2. miserably inadequate; of very low standard: "he's a pathetic excuse for a man" Similar Opposite
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unsuccessful or showing no ability, effort, or bravery, so that people feel no respect : a pathetic attempt / joke / excuse. Are you telling me you're frightened to speak to her? Don't be so pathetic!
The meaning of PATHETIC is having a capacity to move one to either compassionate or contemptuous pity. How to use pathetic in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Pathetic.
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. ...a pathetic little dog with a curly tail. The small group of onlookers presented a pathetic sight. She now looked small, shrunken and pathetic.
Something pathetic inspires pity and contempt. If your backhand is pathetic, you probably shouldn't try out for the tennis team. These days, when you see the word pathetic, it's pretty clear that it's no compliment. This is an insulting word for things that are so bad they bum you out.
Pathetic definition: causing or evoking pity, sympathetic sadness, sorrow, etc.; pitiful; pitiable. See examples of PATHETIC used in a sentence.
Definition of pathetic adjective in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
showing no skill, effort, or bravery: He made a rather pathetic attempt to apologize. You're too frightened to speak to her? Come on, that's pathetic! It was a pathetic performance. pathetic adjective (SAD) sad and weak: Four times the pathetic little creature fell to the ground. pathetically. adverb. a pathetically small amount of money.
PATHETIC meaning: 1 : causing feelings of sadness and sympathy; 2 : very bad, poor, weak, etc.
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.
Pathetic, when employed in the sense above, tends to have the meaning of “pitifully inferior or inadequate,” or “absurd, laughable.”. These meanings are relative newcomers; the use of pathetic to mean “inadequate” did not begin until the 19th century.
