Meaning & use
pitiful
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Meanings
adjectivecomparable
Causing sadness and sympathy because someone is weak, suffering or helpless.
Grammar: Can come before a noun or after a verb: a pitiful sight, the dog looked pitiful.
Patterns
- a pitiful sight
- look pitiful
The abandoned puppy made a pitiful whimpering sound.
The refugees were a pitiful sight after days without shelter.
He looked so pitiful in his soaked coat that we invited him in.
adjectivecomparabledisapproving
So poor, small or weak that it deserves contempt or disappointment.
Grammar: Used to criticize, often about amounts or efforts: a pitiful salary.
Patterns
- a pitiful effort
- a pitiful amount
The team's pitiful performance cost them the match.
They offered a pitiful sum for all that work.
It was a pitiful excuse for missing the deadline.
Word forms
| comparative | more pitiful |
|---|---|
| superlative | most pitiful |
Common combinations
- a pitiful sight
- The flooded village was a pitiful sight.
- a pitiful cry
- We heard a pitiful cry from the well.
- a pitiful attempt
- His pitiful attempt at an apology made things worse.
- a pitiful amount
- A pitiful amount of food was left.
- look pitiful
- The kitten looked pitiful in the rain.
Synonyms and how they differ
- pathetic
- Pathetic is stronger and is more often used to scorn someone, while pitiful can express real sympathy.
- pitiable
- Pitiable is more formal and nearly always about sympathy rather than scorn.
- miserable
- Miserable describes unhappiness or a tiny amount, without the sense of deserving pity.
- paltry
- Paltry only refers to small or worthless amounts, not to suffering beings.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: pitiful or pitiless? pitiful or piteous?
pitiful vs pitiless
Pitiful means deserving pity, while pitiless means having no pity for others.
pitiful vs piteous
Piteous is a more literary word that only means causing pity, never scorn.
Practice
Which sentence uses pitiful to show contempt rather than sympathy?
Choose one answer.
Only the third sentence criticizes a poor effort. The others describe suffering creatures who deserve sympathy.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “pitiful”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.