See Also: Pathetic(medicine)
pathetic(dictionary)
pathetic(dictionary)
pathetic nerve(medicine)
pathetic fallacy(dictionary)

pathetic (iou)



pathetic adjective & noun. L16.
[French pathetique from late Latin patheticus from Greek pathetikos sensitive, from pathetos liable to suffer, formed as PATHOS: see -ETIC.]
A. adjective.
a. Producing an effect upon the emotions; moving, stirring. L16-M18.
b. spec. Exciting pity or sadness; full of pathos. M18.
E. Bowen She..turned pathetic eyes on Penelope and made appeal with soundless moving lips. N. Frye It is pathetic to..see how buoyant is his hope of being understood.
Expressing or arising from strong emotion; passionate, earnest. M17-M18.
Of or pertaining to the emotions. arch. exc. in pathetic fallacy below. M17.
pathetic fallacy the attribution of human emotion or responses to inanimate things or animals, esp. in art and literature.
Anatomy. Designating the trochlear nerve, and the superior oblique muscle of the eyeball which it supplies. Now rare or obsolete. L17.
Miserably inadequate, feeble, useless. colloq. M20.
G. F. Kennan It was a rather pathetic affair, attended by only thirty-five persons.
b. absol. as noun.
In pl. & sing. Pathetic expressions or feelings. Now rare or obsolete. M17.
the pathetic, that which is pathetic; pathetic quality, expression, or feeling; people who arouse pity in others, as a class. E18.
M. Bradbury A deep regard for the pathetic, the sad people of this world.
In pl. The branch of knowledge that deals with human emotions. rare. L19.
pathetical adjective (now rare) = PATHETIC adjective L16.
pathetically adverb (a) so as to excite pity or sadness; (b) with strong emotion, passionately, earnestly; (c) colloq. inadequately, feebly: L16.