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
- pitifully adverb
- pitifulness noun
- self-pitiful adjective
- self-pitifully adverb
- self-pitifulness noun
- unpitiful adjective
- unpitifully adverb
- unpitifulness noun
Etymology
Origin of pitiful
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.
“This man, after he gets fired, doesn’t target those who have directly harmed him, but, strangely enough, goes for those who are equally as pitiful as him,” says Park.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 18, 2025
England last won an away Ashes series in 2010/11 and their recent record in Australia is pitiful, with 13 defeats and two draws in 15 Tests.
From Barron's • Nov. 16, 2025
"Such a pitiful number of films from the past year have been made by women."
From BBC • Nov. 5, 2025
Whatever it was on his mind, it can't have been pretty, like Amorim's answer as the United head coach thrashed about looking to explain another pitiful display in a season he promised would be better.
From BBC • Sep. 14, 2025
He came upon the great box and broke it open and took the pitiful cargo home to his wife who was as kind as he.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.