1 making you feel pity or sadness:
a pathetic and lonely old man * The starving children were a pathetic sight.
2 (informal, disapproving) weak, useless and not successful:
a pathetic excuse / joke * She made a pathetic attempt to smile. * I know it sounds pathetic, but I can't ride a bike. * You're pathetic!
pathetically adverb:
He cried pathetically. * a pathetically shy woman
