Word · Frequency #20707
pathetically
令人同情地；可怜地
in a manner arousing sympathy and compassion
- 1.
In a pathetic manner; piteously.
可悲地；可怜地。
令人鄙夷地；可悲地；可悲地；可怜地。；悲哀地；哀伤地；感伤地
In use
He looked at me pathetically, hoping I would forgive him.
The team played pathetically in the second half and lost by five goals.
She cried pathetically when her dog ran away.
pathetically + adjective
pathetically 修饰形容词时，常表示“程度差得可怜”，带有同情或轻蔑的意味。
The starving puppy looked pathetically thin.
那只挨饿的小狗看起来瘦得可怜。
verb + pathetically
He begged pathetically for mercy.
他可怜地乞求怜悯。
Common mistakes
He looked at me pathetic.He looked at me pathetically.
looked at 是动词短语，修饰动作要用副词 pathetically，不能用形容词 pathetic；中文“可怜地看着我”中的“可怜地”是状语，对应副词。
She is a pathetically girl.She is a pathetic girl.
girl 是名词，需要形容词 pathetic 作定语；pathetically 是副词，不能修饰名词。中文“可怜的姑娘”里“可怜的”是形容词。
She pathetically comforted the crying child.She sympathetically comforted the crying child.
pathetically 表示“令人同情地、可怜地”，描述动作发出者自身显得可怜；如果想表达“怀着同情地”，要用 sympathetically。二者语义方向相反。
Connections
Collocations
- pathetically weak
- 弱得可怜；可悲地软弱
- The team's defense was pathetically weak.这支球队的防守弱得可怜。
- pathetically thin
- 瘦得可怜；单薄得可怜
- The stray cat looked pathetically thin.那只流浪猫瘦得可怜。
- pathetically inadequate
- 可悲地不足；可怜地不够
- His excuse was pathetically inadequate.他的借口可悲地站不住脚。
- pathetically grateful
- 感激得可怜；可怜巴巴地感激
- She was pathetically grateful for any scraps of kindness.她对任何一点善意都感激得可怜。
- pathetically eager
- 急切得可怜；可怜巴巴地热切
- He was pathetically eager to please his boss.他可怜巴巴地急于讨好老板。
- pathetically funny
Learner notes
Memory Tip
把 pathetically 拆成 pathetic(可怜的)+ally：想象一个可怜的“盟友”正悲哀地看着你，令人同情又觉得可悲。
Context & Register
语域：mixed 常见场景：describing someone's sad situation or suffering、criticizing a weak or futile attempt 该词根据语境可有两种口气：描述令人同情的处境时多用于正式或书面叙述；评论某人或某事做得太差时则带轻蔑语气，比较常见于口语和评论中。
Pronunciation & Spelling
pathetically 读 /pəˈθetikli/，重音在 -thet-。sympathetically、apathetically、aesthetically、synthetically 都以 thetically 结尾，且重读部分都是 /θetɪkli/，押韵；theoretically 拼作 -etically，但重读元音后的 /etɪkli/ 相同，也押韵。注意 emphatically 拼写相近，却读 /ɪmˈfætɪkli/，重读元音是 /æ/，与 pathetically 不押韵。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.