In the 18th century, the Swedish government made coffee and its paraphernalia (including cups and dishes) illegal for its supposed ties to rebellious sentiment.
PATHETIC
pathetic, ridiculous, silly
(adjective) inspiring scornful pity; “how silly an ardent and unsuccessful wooer can be especially if he is getting on in years”- Dashiell Hammett
pathetic, pitiable, pitiful
(adjective) inspiring mixed contempt and pity; “their efforts were pathetic”; “pitiable lack of character”; “pitiful exhibition of cowardice”
hapless, miserable, misfortunate, pathetic, piteous, pitiable, pitiful, poor, wretched
(adjective) deserving or inciting pity; “a hapless victim”; “miserable victims of war”; “the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic”- Galsworthy; “piteous appeals for help”; “pitiable homeless children”; “a pitiful fate”; “Oh, you poor thing”; “his poor distorted limbs”; “a wretched life”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Adjective
pathetic (comparative more pathetic, superlative most pathetic)
Arousing pity, sympathy, or compassion.
Arousing scornful pity or contempt, often due to miserable inadequacy.
(obsolete) Expressing or showing anger; passionate.
(anatomy) Trochlear.
Synonyms
• (arousing pity): pitiful, wretched, miserable, deplorable, pathetisad
• (arousing scorn): disgraceful, shameful, despicable, dishonorable
Source: Wiktionary
Pa*thet"ic, a. Etym: [L. patheticus, Gr. pathétique. See Pathos.]
1. Expressing or showing anger; passionate. [Obs.]
2. Affecting or moving the tender emotions, esp. pity or grief; full of pathos; as, a pathetic song or story. "Pathetic action." Macaulay. No theory of the passions can teach a man to be pathetic. E. Porter. Pathetic muscle (Anat.), the superior oblique muscle of the eye.
– Pathetic nerve (Anat.), the fourth cranial, or trochlear, nerve, which supplies the superior oblique, or pathetic, muscle of the eye.
– The pathetic, a style or manner adapted to arouse the tender emotions.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
5 January 2025
PTEROSAUR
(noun) an extinct reptile of the Jurassic and Cretaceous having a bird-like beak and membranous wings supported by the very long fourth digit of each forelimb
Coffee Trivia
