Pompous vs Pathetic - What's the difference?
pompous | pathetic |
Affectedly grand, solemn or self-important.
* 1848, , Bantam Classics (1997), 16:
Arousing pity, sympathy, or compassion.
Arousing scornful pity or contempt, often due to miserable inadequacy.
* {{quote-video, year=2005, title=
, passage=Well you'd better think of something because middle-aged tramps aren't cute, they're pathetic .}}
(obsolete) Expressing or showing anger; passionate.
As adjectives the difference between pompous and pathetic
is that pompous is affectedly grand, solemn or self-important while pathetic is arousing pity, sympathy, or compassion.pompous
English
Adjective
(en adjective)- "Not that the parting speech caused Amelia to philosophise, or that it armed her in any way with a calmness, the result of argument; but it was intolerably dull, pompous , and tedious; and having the fear of her schoolmistress greatly before her eyes, Miss Sedley did not venture, in her presence, to give way to any ebullitions of private grief."
Synonyms
* conceited * smug * See alsoAntonyms
* humble * modest * self-effacingExternal links
* * *pathetic
English
Alternative forms
* pathetick (archaic) * patheticke (obsolete) * pathetique (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- The old man’s pathetic pleas for forgiveness stirred the young man’s heart.
- You can't even run two miles? That’s pathetic .
- You're almost 26 years old and you still can't hold a real job? That's pathetic .