pathetic
Definitions
Arousing pity or sadness; sad and pitiful
可怜的，令人怜悯的
(informal) Pitifully bad, weak, or inadequate; contemptible
（非正式）差劲的，可悲的，不中用的
Root Breakdown
Root-derivedpath (feeling) + -etic (adj.) = 'arousing feeling,' specifically pity. Originally it meant simply 'moving, touching the emotions' (the pathetic in art). In casual modern English it slid downhill into an insult: so feeble it's pitiful — 'a pathetic excuse.'
Root path still carries 58 more wordsWhy It Means This
Pathetic has fallen in the world. It started neutral, even noble: 'pathetic' meant something that stirs deep feeling — pity, sorrow, tenderness (still seen in 'the pathetic fallacy' in literature). But because the feeling it stirred was usually pity, and pity edges into contempt, the everyday word soured into 'so pitifully bad it's laughable.' Same root feeling, opposite respect.
Example Sentences
- 1.
The lost puppy gave a pathetic little whimper.
- 2.
That's a pathetic excuse — you just forgot.
- 3.
His attempt to apologize was frankly pathetic.