pathetic

Word family

pa·thet·ic /pəˈθetɪk/ adjectiveadj

1 BADsomething or someone that is pathetic is so useless, unsuccessful, or weak that they annoy you 无用的；差劲的；令人生厌的

You’re pathetic! Here, let me do it.

你真没用！来，让我做吧。

I know it sounds pathetic now, but at the time I was frightened.

我知道现在听起来挺窝囊，不过当时我很害怕。

Vic made a pathetic attempt to apologise.

维克很勉强地道了歉。

2 SYMPATHIZEmaking you feel pity or sympathy 招人怜悯的，可怜的

The child looked a pathetic sight.

那个孩子看上去很可怜。

—pathetically /-kli/ adverbadv

She whimpered pathetically.

她可怜地啜泣了起来。

Examples from the Corpus

pathetic• Even worse, it sounded pathetic.• The arrogance of some of the has-beens in the Athletico squad is pathetic.• She's clever, but as a teacher she's pathetic.• The movie's special effects are absolutely pathetic.• We found a small dog sitting outside the back door, looking pathetic.• There is something pathetic about a 40-year-old man who still has his mother do his laundry.• I just felt pathetic, ashamed, embarrassed and ugly.• a pathetic attempt at seduction• I can't believe we wasted our money on that pathetic comedian last night.• Yang looked at me with a pathetic expression on his face.• pathetic images of half-starved children• But each day the silence worked on me-and my pathetic longing.• It was really pathetic, meeting him like that in the flower shop.• And she found it interesting that Sandra would project her own pathetic pursuit of Matthew on to some one else.• How pathetic they had seemed at the time, how weak, their eyes blazing with fear, like trapped animals.

Origin pathetic

(1500-1600) French pathétique, from Latin, from Greek, from paschein “to suffer”

pa·thet·ic adjectiveadj

Chinese

Syllable

Corpus