pathetic

形容词 pathetic:

1. deserving or inciting pity
   同义词：hapless, miserable, misfortunate, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, wretched
2. inspiring mixed contempt and pity
   同义词：pitiable, pitiful
3. inspiring scornful pity- Dashiell Hammett
   同义词：ridiculous, silly

1. How pathetic!
   真让人泄气！
2. She dances well, but as a singer, she is pathetic.
   她跳舞跳得好，但唱歌就差劲了。
3. We saw the pathetic sight of starving children.
   我们看到挨饿的儿童悲惨可怜的样子。
4. His tears were pathetic to witness.
   他的眼泪引起在场人的怜悯。

pa.thet.ic

adj.（形容词）
Arousing or capable of arousing sympathetic sadness and compassion.
令人同情的，可怜的：激发或能够激发伤感和同情的
Arousing or capable of arousing scornful pity.
又笨又可怜的，无价值的：引起或能够引发带有轻蔑色彩的怜悯的

来源：
French pathétique
法语 pathétique
from Late Latin pathôticus
源自 后期拉丁语 pathôticus
from Greek pathôtikos [sensitive]
源自 希腊语 pathôtikos [敏感的]
from pathôtos [liable to suffer]
源自 pathôtos [易于遭受苦难的]
from pathos [suffering] * see k went(h)-
源自 pathos [痛苦，苦难] *参见 k went(h)-

【引伸】
pathet.ically
adv.（副词）
<参考词汇><同义词>pathetic,pitiful,pitiable,piteous,lamentableThese adjectives describe one that inspires or deserves pity.Somethingpathetic elicits sympathetic sadness and compassion:
这些形容词都指激发或赢得同情的人或物。Pathetic 表示伤感和同情：
例句：
.Everything human is pathetic. (Mark Twain).Often the word refers to what is so poor that it arouses scornful pity:
.人类具有同情心. （马克·吐温）。这个词常指因十分贫穷而引起轻视的怜悯：

例句：
The academic standards in the school were pathetic. Bothpitiful and pitiable apply to what is touchingly sad:
学校的学术水平低得可怜。 Pitiful 和 pitiable 都用于指令人感伤的东西：

例句：
.She told a most pitiful story. (Samuel Butler).
.她讲叙了一个十分令人感伤的故事. （塞缪尔·巴特勒）。

例句：
.The emperor had been in a state of pitiable vacillation. (William Hickling Prescott).Sometimes the terms connote contemptuous pity,as for what is hopelessly inept or inadequate:
.皇帝曾处于令人可怜的举棋不定状态. （威廉·希克林·普雷斯科特）。这两个词有时暗指轻蔑的同情，如令人绝望地无能或不合适的东西：

例句：
.If when the chips are down, the world`s most powerful nation . . . acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world. (Richard M. Nixon).
.如果当情况危急时，世界上最强大的国家…象一个可怜的无助的巨人，那么集权主义和独裁势力将会威胁到全世界的自由国家和组织机构. （理查德·M·尼克松）。

例句：
.That cold accretion called the world, which, so terrible in the mass, is so unformidable, even pitiable, in its units. (Thomas Hardy).
.那个被称为地球的冲积而成的寒冷球体，整体是如此令人生惧，各部分又是那么懦弱甚至令人生怜. （托马斯·哈代）。

Piteous applies to what cries out for pity:
Piteous 用于指因可怜喊出的：
例句：
.They . . . made piteous lamentation to us to save them. (Daniel Defoe).
.他们向我们示以令人可怜的悲伤来自保. （丹尼尔·笛福）。

Lamentable suggests the evocation of pity mixed with sorrow:
Lamentable 指含有悲伤的同情的唤起：
例句：
.Tell thou the lamentable tale of me,/And send the hearers weeping to their beds. (Shakespeare).See also Synonyms at moving
.讲述我的悲伤故事/让听者痛不欲生. （莎士比亚）参见同义词 moving