Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Pathetic \Pa*thet"ic\, a. [L. patheticus, Gr. ?, fr. ?, ?, to
   suffer: cf. F. path['e]tique. See {Pathos}.]
   1. Expressing or showing anger; passionate. [Obs.]

   2. Affecting or moving the tender emotions, esp. pity or
      grief; full of pathos; as, a pathetic song or story.
      ``Pathetic action.'' --Macaulay.

            No theory of the passions can teach a man to be
            pathetic.                             --E. Porter.

   {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.

Source : WordNet®

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}, {piteous}, {pitiable}, {pitiful}, {poor},
             {wretched}]
     2: inspiring mixed contempt and pity; "their efforts were
        pathetic"; "pitiable lack of character"; "pitiful
        exhibition of cowardice" [syn: {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: {ridiculous}, {silly}]