Pathetical

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /pəˈθɛtɪkl̩/

Definitions

1. Eliciting feelings of compassion or sadness, this term describes something that embodies a pitiable nature or provokes sorrow in others
2. Causing a sense of sadness or sympathy due to its sad condition or quality
3. Inspiring compassionate feelings because of its unfortunate or miserable state

Etymology: The word comes from Late Latin "patheticus", itself borrowed from Greek "pathētikos", meaning emotional or sensitive, from "pathos", "suffering" or "feeling". The Greek root shows up in other English words such as "sympathy" and "empathy", which share the same underlying idea of feeling something alongside or within another person. English took the Late Latin form and added the adjective ending "-al", giving "pathetical", a longer variant of the more common "pathetic". The shorter form is the one that usually survives in modern use, and "pathetical" now reads as an archaic or deliberately old-fashioned alternative. Over time the sense shifted. The original meaning was simply about stirring emotion, especially in art or speech that moved an audience to pity or tenderness. The modern sense of this form, inspiring compassion because of someone's miserable condition, grows directly from that emotional stirring, though the later "pathetic" also picked up a scornful sense of inadequacy that this longer form rarely carries.

Synonyms: tragic, pitiful, lamentable, sorrowful, deplorable

Antonyms: comical, amusing, joyful, uplifting, cheerful