pitiful

English

Alternative forms

• pitifull (archaic)

Etymology

From pity +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈpɪtɪfəl/
• (US) IPA: /ˈpɪdəfl̩/
• SAMPA /"pIt@f=l/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

pitiful (comparative pitifuller, superlative pitifullest)

1. (now rare) Feeling pity; merciful.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick:

     Straightway, he now goes on to make a full confession; whereupon the mariners became more and more appalled, but still are pitiful.

2. So appalling or sad that one feels or should feel sorry for it; eliciting pity.

   Scotland has a pitiful climate.

3. Very small (of an amount or number).

   A pitiful number of students bothered to turn up.

Synonyms

• See also Wikisaurus:lamentable

Related terms

• pitiable
• pity

Translations

so appalling or sad that one feels or should feel sorry for it; eliciting pity

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 可憐 (cmn), 可怜 (cmn) (kělián)

• Finnish: säälittävä (fi)
• French: pitoyable (fr) m and f

• German: erbärmlich (de), kläglich (de), jämmerlich (de)
• Japanese: 可憐な (ja) (かれんな, karen na)
• Jèrriais: pitchiabl'ye m and f
• Russian: жалкий (ru) (žálkij) , бедненький (ru) (bédnenʹkij) 
• Spanish: lastimoso (es), lastimero (es)

very small (of an amount)

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 很少 (hěn shǎo)

• Finnish: säälittävä (fi)

• Russian: жалкий (ru) (žálkij) , ничтожный (ru) (ničtóžnyj) , мизерный (ru) (mízernyj) 

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: zielig, triest (1), deplorabel (1)
• Esperanto: kompatinda (eo)

• Hebrew: מעורר רחמים (meʿorer rɑḥɑmim), עלוב
• Indonesian: kasihan (id)
• Italian: pietoso (it)
• Spanish: lamentable (es)