Meanings
comparative more pathetical · superlative most pathetical
- Arising from strong emotion; passionate.First known use 16th c.
Not Hermes Prolocutor to the Gods, Could vſe perſwaſions more pathetical.
c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire; London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii1 more example
Theseus at the first sight of Helen was so besotted, that he esteemed himself the happiest man in the world if he might enjoy her, and to that purpose kneeled down, and made his pathetical prayers unto the gods.
1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC, partition III, section 2, member 2, subsection ii
Origin
- Late Latinpatheticus
- Englishpathetical
From Late Latin patheticus + -al.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
pathetical. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pathetical
“pathetical.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pathetical. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pathetical,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pathetical.
Source: pathetical on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.