pitiful
/ˈpɪt.ɪ.fl̩/ adjective, adverb
Forms pitifuller pitifullest pitifull
- adjective So appalling or sad that one feels or should feel sorry for it; eliciting pity. “Scotland has a pitiful climate.”
- adjective Eliciting contempt.
- adjective Of an amount or number: very small. “A pitiful number of students bothered to turn up.”
- adjective (archaic) Feeling pity; merciful.
- adverb (colloquial, dialect) In a pitiful manner; pitifully; piteously; pathetically.
Synonyms
piteous pitisome ruthful few meager paltry scant scanty thin commiserative clement lenient merciable mercied merciful relentful safe pitying compassionate pathetic pitiable deplorable distressing lamentable sad sorry hapless miserable misfortunate poor
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English pityful, piteful, piteeful. By surface analysis, pit(i) + -ful.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Full of pity; tender-hearted; compassionate; kind; merciful; sympathetic.
- adjective Piteous; lamentable; eliciting compassion.
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pitiful”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details