The Oxford Thesaurus An A-Z Dictionary of Synonyms - patheticadj.

1) moving, stirring, affecting, affective, touching, emotional, emotive, poignant, tragic, heart-rending, heart-breaking, pitiful, pitiable, piteous, plaintive, wretched, miserable, sorrowful, grievous, sad, doleful, dolorous, mournful, woeful, lamentable: The boat people told a pathetic tale of the hardship of weeks in the open sea. 2) meagre, paltry, feeble, inadequate, poor, petty, puny, sorry, piddling, Colloq measly, Slang crummy: He made a pathetic effort to pull himself together. A return of three per cent a year is pathetic.