Learn English – Common word for “patheticness”

single-word-requests

Example:

Feigning cold to be hugged. […] in its purest form.

When I search on Google or Theraurus I just get its noun counterpart: http://www.thesaurus.com/browse/pathetic. But I'm sure I'm missing a very obvious/commonly used synonyms. Any suggestions?

Best Answer

I can offer you a word that is not so common, but is quite poetic.

pathos (WordNet): a quality that evokes pity or sadness.

And again from The WordSmyth:

pathos: a quality in life or art that evokes pity, sadness, or compassion.

It has some more commonly-used synonyms, like pitifulness (or piteousness) and, somewhere in the middle with a slightly different bent, poignancy.

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