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Definition of pathetic adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

pathetic

adjective
 
/pəˈθetɪk/
 
/pəˈθetɪk/
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  1. making you feel sad synonym pitiful
    • a pathetic and lonely old man
    • The starving children were a pathetic sight.
    Extra Examples
    • There was something a little pathetic about her.
    • She thought he looked a pathetic figure.
  2. (informal, disapproving) weak and not successful synonym feeble
    • a pathetic excuse
    • She made a pathetic attempt to smile.
    • I know it sounds pathetic, but I can’t ride a bike.
    • You're pathetic!
    Extra Examples
    • The whole thing is absolutely pathetic.
    • What a pathetic coward!
    • I felt like a pathetic loser.
    Topics Difficulty and failurec2
  3. Word Originlate 16th cent. (in the sense ‘affecting the emotions’): via late Latin from Greek pathētikos ‘sensitive’, based on pathos ‘suffering’.
See pathetic in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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