From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Pathetic \Pa*thet"ic\ (p[.a]*th[e^]t"[i^]k), a. [L. patheticus,
Gr. paqhtiko`s, fr. paqei^n, pa`schein, to suffer: cf. F.
path['e]tique. See Pathos.]
1. Expressing or showing anger; passionate. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
2. Affecting or moving the tender emotions, esp. pity or
grief; full of pathos; as, a pathetic song or story.
"Pathetic action." --Macaulay.
[1913 Webster]
No theory of the passions can teach a man to be
pathetic. --E. Porter.
[1913 Webster]
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.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [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"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted
limbs"; "a wretched life" [syn: hapless, miserable,
misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable,
pitiful, poor, wretched]
2: inspiring mixed contempt and pity; "their efforts were
pathetic"; "pitiable lack of character"; "pitiful exhibition
of cowardice" [syn: pathetic, 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: pathetic, ridiculous,
silly]