Pa‐thet″ic (pȧ‐thĕt″ĭk), a. [L. patheticus, Gr. παθητικόσ, fr. παθει̑ν, πάσχειν, to suffer: cf. F. pathétique. See Pathos.] 1. Expressing or showing anger; passionate.
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.