pathétique
French, adjective/pa.te.tik/
pathétique is a French adjective meaning “pathetic, arousing emotion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Qui émeut ; qui est émouvant”.
What does pathétique mean in English?
adjective
- 1
pathetic, arousing emotion
- 2
pathetic, contemptible
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
adjective: 1. Qui émeut ; qui est émouvant. 2. Pitoyable, lamentable ou désolant. 3. Se dit d’une zone proche de l’œil.
noun: 1. Ce qui émeut, bouleverse.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of pathétique
- pathétiques plural
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce pathétique?
- /pa.te.tik/
- \pa.te.tik\
- \patetik\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to pathétique
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is pathétique in French?
pathétique appears 7.9 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).