pathetic

1 deserving of one's pity the plight of the homeless family was quite pathetic Synonyms heartbreaking, heartrending, miserable, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, rueful, sorry, wretched Related Words deplorable, lamentable, regrettable; emotional, impressive, inspiring; affecting, moving, poignant, stirring, touching; awful, horrible, terrible; distressing, disturbing, upsetting; grievous, mournful, sad, sorrowful, woeful Near Antonyms unimpressive, uninspiring

2 causing unhappiness a pathetic story that made her cry Synonyms depressing, dismal, drear, dreary, heartbreaking, heartrending, melancholy, mournful, sad, saddening, sorry, tearful, tearyRelated Words deplorable, distressful, grievous, lamentable, unfortunate, woeful; discomforting, discomposing, disquieting, distressing, disturbing, perturbing; affecting, moving, poignant, touching; discouraging, disheartening, dispiritingNear Antonyms heartening, heartwarming, inspiring, stimulating, stirring, uplifting; agreeable, delightful, enjoyable, pleasant, pleasing, pleasurable, satisfying, welcome; exhilarating, thrillingAntonyms cheering, cheery, glad, happy

3 deserving pitying scorn (as for inadequacy) the crowd mercilessly booed the boxer's pathetic performance Synonyms contemptible, despicable, miserable, pitiful, pitiable, sad, sorry, wretchedRelated Words deplorable, discreditable, disgraceful, disreputable, ignominious, infamous, misbegotten, notorious, shameful; abhorrent, abominable, beastly, detestable, hateful, lousy, odious, stinking; bad, inferior, lame, poor; disgusting, dishonorable, shameful; meritless, unworthy, worthless; scandalous, shocking, sordid, unsavoryNear Antonyms admirable, commendable, creditable, laudable, meritorious, praiseworthy, redoubtable; notable, noteworthy, noticeable, outstanding, reputable, worthy; excellent; flawless, perfect; honorable, noble; honest, straightAntonyms decent, presentable, respectable

4 so foolish or pointless as to be worthy of scornful laughter the pundit's latest book is another pathetic jumble of factual errors, half-baked political views, and baseless accusations Synonyms absurd, cockamamy (or cockamamie), comical, derisive, derisory, farcical, laughable, ludicrous, ridiculous, preposterous, risible, sillyRelated Words asinine, brainless, dumb, fatuous, foolish, half-baked, half-witted, harebrained, idiotic (also idiotical), imbecile (or imbecilic), inane, jerky, moronic, nonsensical, simpleminded, stupid, unwise, weak-minded, witless; balmy, cockeyed, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, insane, kooky (also kookie), loony (also looney), lunatic, mad, nutty, screwball, senseless, wacky (also whacky); fantastic (also fantastical), far-fetched, inconceivable, incredible, unbelievable, unreal, unrealistic, unreasonable; illogical, irrationalNear Antonyms earnest, serious, solemn; believable, conceivable, credible, logical, rational, realistic, reasonable, sensible