pitiful
adjective
piti·ful
ˈpi-ti-fəl 
1
archaic
: full of pity : compassionate
2
a
: deserving or arousing pity or commiseration
b
: exciting pitying contempt (as by meanness or inadequacy)
pitiful wages
Synonyms
Examples of pitiful in a Sentence
She made a pitiful attempt to complete her work.
that piece of junk is a pitiful excuse for a car
Recent Examples on the Web
But some of the job ads are raising eyebrows and even chuckles among AI researchers and engineers for offering wages that, amid the current AI boom, look pitiful.
—
Chris Stokel-Walker, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2024
In a pitiful encore to its flat showing against rival USC, UCLA gave up one open three-pointer after another, the Huskies making eight of their first 10 shots from long range and 10 of 11 shots overall during one stretch late in the first half.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024
So Lund and the others attacked her, and poor, pitiful Raymond Clark finished the job, suffocating her to death with his undershirt.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2024
After four years without a National League club in New York, my father adopted the Mets, a pitiful 1962 expansion team, and encouraged us to do likewise.
—Barry Jacobs – Columnist, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024
But Safdie eschews the sleazy reality TV producer stereotype, creating a man who is both pitiful and venal.
—EW.com, 6 Nov. 2023
Kershaw trudged quietly out of Dodger Stadium that October night after giving up six runs to the first eight Arizona Diamondbacks hitters in a nightmarish playoff opener, his pitiful appearance draped with the saddest of questions.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2024
More notable to me is that Democratic state Sen. Roland Gutierrez raised just $433,000, a pitiful sum in a state as large as Texas.
—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 2 Feb. 2024
Like Halston, his origin story involves a pitiful mother; Jessica Lange is pure camp as Truman’s withholding mom, a social climber who failed to penetrate the very same Manhattan circles that would welcome her son.
—TIME, 31 Jan. 2024
Chris Stokel-Walker, WIRED, 14 Mar. 2024
In a pitiful encore to its flat showing against rival USC, UCLA gave up one open three-pointer after another, the Huskies making eight of their first 10 shots from long range and 10 of 11 shots overall during one stretch late in the first half.
—Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times, 1 Mar. 2024
So Lund and the others attacked her, and poor, pitiful Raymond Clark finished the job, suffocating her to death with his undershirt.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 18 Feb. 2024
After four years without a National League club in New York, my father adopted the Mets, a pitiful 1962 expansion team, and encouraged us to do likewise.
—Barry Jacobs – Columnist, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024
But Safdie eschews the sleazy reality TV producer stereotype, creating a man who is both pitiful and venal.
—EW.com, 6 Nov. 2023
Kershaw trudged quietly out of Dodger Stadium that October night after giving up six runs to the first eight Arizona Diamondbacks hitters in a nightmarish playoff opener, his pitiful appearance draped with the saddest of questions.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 7 Feb. 2024
More notable to me is that Democratic state Sen. Roland Gutierrez raised just $433,000, a pitiful sum in a state as large as Texas.
—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 2 Feb. 2024
Like Halston, his origin story involves a pitiful mother; Jessica Lange is pure camp as Truman’s withholding mom, a social climber who failed to penetrate the very same Manhattan circles that would welcome her son.
—TIME, 31 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pitiful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pitiful
Cite this Entry
“Pitiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pitiful. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
pitiful
adjective
piti·ful
ˈpit-i-fəl
1
: deserving or arousing pity or sympathy
a pitiful mongrel
2
: deserving pitying scorn (as by not being adequate)
a pitiful excuse
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