adjective
- Inspiring mixed contempt and pity.
- usage: "their efforts were pathetic"; "pitiable lack of character"; "pitiful exhibition of cowardice"
- Bad; unfortunate.
- usage: "my finances were in a deplorable state"; "a lamentable decision"; "her clothes were in sad shape"; "a sorry state of affairs"
- synonyms: deplorable, distressing, lamentable, sad, sorry
- Deserving or inciting pity.
- usage: "a hapless victim"; "miserable victims of war"; "the shabby room struck her as extraordinarily pathetic- Galsworthy; "piteous appeals for help"; "pitiable homeless children"; "a pitiful fate"; "Oh, you poor thing"; "his poor distorted limbs"; "a wretched life"
WordNet 3.0 © 2006 by Princeton University
| APA | WordNet. (2010). pitiful. Retrieved September 22, 2026, from http://smartdefine.org/pitiful/definitions/1180856 |
| Chicago | WordNet. 2010. "pitiful" http://smartdefine.org/pitiful/definitions/1180856 (accessed September 22, 2026). |
| Harvard | WordNet 2010, pitiful, Smart Define, viewed 22 September, 2026, <http://smartdefine.org/pitiful/definitions/1180856>. |
| MLA | WordNet. "pitiful" 23 October 2010. Web. 22 September 2026. <http://smartdefine.org/pitiful/definitions/1180856> |