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patetic
pathetic (pitiful, lame) /paˈtetik/
adjective#3708 most common
Also: melodramatic, overwrought, full of pathos, deeply moving (literary)
Example sentences
Filmul a fost patetic.
The movie was pathetic.
Nu fi patetic!
Don't be pathetic!
Scuza lui a fost patetică.
His excuse was pathetic.
Discursul ei patetic a mișcat publicul până la lacrimi.
Her poignant speech moved the audience to tears.
Scena finală a piesei are un ton patetic, plin de durere și compasiune.
The play's final scene has a poignant tone, full of pain and compassion.
Criticii au numit patetică încercarea regizorului de a impresiona prin efecte ieftine.
Critics called the director's attempt to impress with cheap effects pathetic.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | patetic (m) / patetică (f) | patetici (m) / patetice (f) |
| Genitive | patetic (m) / patetice (f) | patetici (m) / patetice (f) |
| Accusative | patetic (m) / patetică (f) | patetici (m) / patetice (f) |
| Vocative | None | None |
Word family
patospathos, deep or excessive emotion
patetismexcessive display of pathos, affectation
pateticin a pathetic or melodramatic mannerapaticapathetic, indifferent
Etymology
Romanian borrowed "patetic" from French "pathétique" in the 19th century, during the wave of French-influenced vocabulary that reshaped modern Romanian. The French word traces to Greek "pathētikos" (capable of feeling, subject to emotion), from "pathos" (suffering, deep feeling). The word kept its literary sense of "full of pathos" but in everyday speech it has drifted toward a more critical meaning close to the English "pathetic".
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