Emily Dickinson Lexicon

pathetic, adj. [Late L. pathetic-us < Gk 'sensitive, liable to suffer'.]

1. Pitiable; moving; saddening; emotional.
2. Sorrowful; mournful; [fig.] funereal in tone; reminiscent of suffering or death; [word play on “Pathetique”] solemn, like Beethoven's piano sonata 8 in C minor, Op. 13.