pitiful
English
Alternative forms
- pitifull (archaic)
Etymology
From Middle English pityful, piteful, piteeful, equivalent to pity + -ful.
Pronunciation
Adjective
pitiful (comparative pitifuller, superlative pitifullest)
- (now rare) Feeling pity; merciful.
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- 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.
- So appalling or sad that one feels or should feel sorry for it; eliciting pity.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:lamentable
- Scotland has a pitiful climate.
- Of an amount or number: very small.
- A pitiful number of students bothered to turn up.
Adverb
pitiful (comparative more pitiful, superlative most pitiful)
- (colloquial, dialect) In a pitiful manner; pitifully; piteously; pathetically.
- 1906, Rudyard Kipling, Puck of Pook's Hill, London: Penguin Books, published 1994, page 194:
- ‘She followed ’em, cryin’ pitiful, to the old boat on the Wall[.]’
Related terms
Translations
so appalling or sad that one feels or should feel sorry for it
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of an amount or number: very small
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Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English adjectives suffixed with -ful
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