piteous
Americanadjective
-
exciting or deserving pity
-
archaic having or expressing pity
Synonym Usage
See pitiful.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of piteous
1250–1300; Middle English; replacing pitous < Old French < Medieval Latin pietōsus. See pity, -ous
Explanation
If something's piteous, it makes you feel pity and concern. The piteous cries of the orphaned kittens under your porch might convince you to climb under there and gather them up so you could feed them. Use the adjective piteous when you want to describe something that deserves your feelings of compassion and sympathy. A baby's cry, a miserable facial expression, and a pleading voice can all be piteous if they make you feel bad and want to help. The root word of piteous is the Latin pietas, meaning dutiful conduct or compassion. In Medieval Latin, it became pietosus and meant both merciful and pitiful.
Vocabulary lists containing piteous
Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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An Excerpt from "The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead
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The Jungle Book
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They have the acute feeling for country sights & sounds at which Anglo-Saxon poets are supposed to excel: for them the air often seems freesia-sweet, Piteous, to eye and ear, as a lamb's bleat.
From Time Magazine Archive
Piteous weeping wears away her cheeks: but no more piteous than Odysseus’ tears, cloaked as they were, now, from the company.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Piteous were the lamentations in which that dame then indulged.
From The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 3 Books 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 by Ganguli, Kisari Mohan
Truly a woman's ornament is this:— The husband is her jewel; lacking him She hath none, though she shines with priceless pearls; Piteous must be her state!
From Hindu literature : Comprising The Book of good counsels, Nala and Damayanti, The Ramayana, and Sakoontala by Arnold, Edwin, Sir
Piteous, his father groan'd; and all around Was heard the voice of wailing and of woe.
From The Iliad by Derby, Edward George Geoffrey Smith Stanley, Earl of
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
