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.
It’s a performance as piteous as it is quietly moving.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026
"The amount you get per stream is piteous, so it's more likely you're going to be in a flat-share with five other people in East London."
From BBC ● Mar. 19, 2024
I knocked out the interview and posted the story, and was smugly strolling back to the kitchen thinking aloud, "I can have it all," when I came upon a piteous sight.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2022
This other kind of pet story is full of animal peril and animal pathos, often underscored by piteous whimpers or forlorn mewing.
From New York Times ● Sep. 3, 2019
“You’d best leave this mule alone, Flora,” I scolded, raising my voice to be heard over Lucky Pete’s piteous braying and hiccupping.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
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.
