Hypertext Webster Gateway: "pathetic"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
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.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
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"; "couldn't rescue the poor fellow"; "his
poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life" [syn: {hapless},
{miserable}, {misfortunate}, {piteous}, {pitiable}, {pitiful},
{poor}, {wretched}]
2: inspiring mixed contempt and pity; "their efforts were
pathetic"; "pitiable lack of character"; "pitiful
exhibition of cowardice" [syn: {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: {ridiculous}, {silly}]
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