Chinese symbol for “pathetic”
可怜巴巴
kě lián bā bā
Traditional: 可憐巴巴
pathetic; pitiful
The closest CC-CEDICT match for pathetic is 可怜巴巴 (kě lián bā bā), defined as: pathetic; pitiful.
Before using these characters for a tattoo, check them with a native speaker. Dictionary words often have several meanings, and the right choice depends on context.
Characters and stroke order
Traditional forms
Other Chinese words for “pathetic”
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 可怜 (可憐) | kě lián | pitiful; pathetic |
| 泄气 (洩氣) | xiè qì | to leak (gas); to be discouraged |
| 弱爆 | ruò bào | (slang) weak; pathetic |
| 没起子 (沒起子) | méi qǐ zi | (dialect) (of a person) useless; pathetic |
Related words
Other words that share a character with 可怜巴巴.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may |
| 可能 | kě néng | might (happen); possible |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 不可 | bù kě | cannot; should not; must not |
| 可怕 | kě pà | awful; dreadful |
| 可爱 (可愛) | kě ài | adorable; cute |
| 可怜 (可憐) | kě lián | pitiful; pathetic |
| 怜悯 (憐憫) | lián mǐn | to take pity on; pity |
| 巴士 | bā shì | bus (loanword); motor coach |
| 鸡巴 (雞巴) | jī ba | dick; penis (vulgar) |
See also: Japanese symbol for “pathetic”.
Data: CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0); Unihan Database (Unicode License v3); Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License (graphics.txt); LGPL-3.0-or-later (dictionary.txt)); wordfreq (CC BY-SA 4.0 (data)). Retrieved 2026-10-22.