pitiful
Americanadjective
-
evoking or deserving pity.
a pitiful fate.
- Synonyms:
- pathetic, woeful, deplorable, lamentable
- Antonyms:
- delightful
-
evoking or deserving contempt by smallness, poor quality, etc..
pitiful attempts.
- Synonyms:
- despicable, vile, base, low, mean, deplorable
- Antonyms:
- honorable
-
Archaic. full of pity; compassionate.
adjective
-
arousing or deserving pity
-
arousing or deserving contempt
-
archaic full of pity or compassion
Related Words
Pitiful, pitiable, piteous apply to that which excites pity (with compassion or with contempt). That which is pitiful is touching and excites pity or is mean and contemptible: a pitiful leper; a pitiful exhibition of cowardice. Pitiable may mean lamentable, or wretched and paltry: a pitiable hovel. Piteous refers only to that which exhibits suffering and misery, and is therefore heart-rending: piteous poverty.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of pitiful
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; see origin at pity, -ful
Explanation
Pitiful means pathetic. If you don't even study for your test, you're making a pretty pitiful effort to do well. The word pitiful can be used in a range of contexts. Most commonly, you'll see it used as an expression of contempt and pity, the way the word pathetic might be used. You might also see it used in reference to something unfortunate or deserving of pity — like a homeless mother and her child, begging for money on the street. Something pitiful might also be something very small or inadequate. A pitiful attempt, is one that isn't good enough.
Vocabulary lists containing pitiful
List 12
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Crash
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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.
“Do you know how many homeless people are laying on the streets dying? I cried for three days. Pitiful, pitiful, pitiful. That should not be. It should not be.”
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 5, 2022
So Weird Al released "White & Nerdy," a spoof of Chamillionaire's "Ridin,'" as the first single instead—then released "You're Pitiful" online for free.
From Salon • Sep. 6, 2021
There are also a disfigured, rather yearning character, called Pitiful Creature, and a fusty academic who breaks in occasionally to comment on the work.
From New York Times • Nov. 8, 2016
Pitiful though this may be, however, Moran doesn’t deserve a pass for doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons.
From MSNBC • Apr. 4, 2016
Pitiful, injured survivors were camping out in sheds made from pine trees.
From "Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two" by Joseph Bruchac
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.
