Hi
I have seen the word pathetic being used in a positive sense also. To me, it has only negative connotations.
pathetic = causing pathos or pity
The victims looked very pathetic.
She cried pathetically.
Could you please give your take on this?
Thanks,
Tom
Mr. TomI have seen the word pathetic being used in a positive sense also.
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Could you please give your take on this?
Yes. It can go either way.
pathetic: having a capacity to move one to either compassionate or contemptuous pity
(My mother used to use it more often in the compassionate way. "She didn't have much longer to live. It was so pathetic to see her in that condition.")
It's possible that there has been a generational change to some extent, but I still hear 'pathetic' used in both ways.
CJ
Comments
"Pathetic" can mean nothing more than "arousing pity", but this use is rapidly fading. I think you can call "pathetic" a worsened word. It now means "contemptible" to the average person.
There is also something called the pathetic fallacy, one application of which is the notion that animals think as feel as we do. It is called pathetic because it arises from emotion, an obsolete definition of the word, not because the people who believe it are saps.