deplorable

adjective

di-ˈplȯr-ə-bəl How to pronounce deplorable (audio)
Definition of deplorablenext
1
as in pitiful
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust we will not tolerate such deplorable behavior in a house of worship

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in tragic
of a kind to cause great distress condemned the deplorable conditions in which the family was living

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of deplorable Investigators said the children remained mostly confined to a small room in the house under deplorable conditions. — ABC News, 9 Sep. 2026 Anne Arundel County State's Attorney Anne Colt Leitess said Houck's son was living in deplorable conditions with drugs within his reach. — Adam Thompson, CBS News, 8 Sep. 2026 The consent decree over inmate medical care resulted from a 2015 class-action inmate lawsuit filed by the Prison Law Office alleging deplorable jail conditions, including inaccessible mental health and healthcare. — Robert Salonga, Mercury News, 8 Sep. 2026 The malnourished children were found living in deplorable conditions in a 12-by-12-foot room. — Wsyx Staff, Baltimore Sun, 10 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for deplorable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deplorable
  1. pitiful
  2. tragic
  3. lame
  4. unfortunate
  5. cheap
  6. wretched
  7. disgusting
  8. dirty
Adjective
  • Nvidia is the pitiful, helpless giant, now revealed, according to the bears, to have just propped up an ecosystem for its own earnings, with a CEO now revealed to be a dubious character.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Yet Scudder, a progressive thirty-six-year-old real-estate analyst raised by lesbians on a purple-hull-pea farm in East Texas, assumed the post in 2025, and has been in a rush to reverse his party’s pitiful showings.
    — Jesús Rodríguez, New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of pitiful
Adjective
  • The tragic killing sparked local protests and urgent calls from community members to end youth violence and bullying.
    — Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 11 Nov. 2026
  • Faced with a hole in her life in the shape of her lifelong best friend after a tragic accident, Minnie forms a tight bond with the girl’s British stay-at-home mother, Helen (Sophie Okonedo, luminescent here), mourning on her own.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 9 Nov. 2026
Definition of tragic
Adjective
  • In the meantime, Congress may consider a ban on stock trading by members of Congress during the post-election lame-duck session.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 12 Nov. 2026
  • Blumenthal and others hope to make an 11th-hour push on policy priorities in the lame-duck session before the end of the year.
    — Lisa Hagen, Hartford Courant, 10 Nov. 2026
Definition of lame
Adjective
  • Before that, the Broncos were a major beneficiary of an unfortunate series of events in the third quarter.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 8 Nov. 2026
  • As the state no longer holds a monopoly on the tools—nor the data—used to keep us safe, an opaque gap between the private and public sectors has opened where unfortunate, and even tragic, events can transpire.
    — David Niccolini, Forbes.com, 6 Nov. 2026
Definition of unfortunate
Adjective
  • For context, the 27-inch ELF-SR2 sells for around ¥550,000 in Japan, so this is a dramatically cheaper way into Sony's 3D ecosystem, landing in the same ballpark as the $299 Looking Glass Go.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 5 Nov. 2026
  • This year’s conflict has shown the relative ease with which cheap drones can slip past some of the world’s most expensive air defense systems and hit pipelines, ports, and ships.
    — Matthew Martin, semafor.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of cheap
Adjective
  • The bat lay on its back, soggy and wretched, here in the waning hours of this terrible day.
    — Téa Obreht, New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Francis’ native Argentina, for its part, has had a wretched reckoning with abuse and victims there have been demanding action from the Vatican, including to address cases in which Francis was personally involved.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of wretched
Adjective
  • Everyone starts tasting the varied, apparently disgusting, bottles.
    — Alice Burton, Vulture, 6 Nov. 2026
  • The third branch of government did its job, and that should be a welcome sight for all Americans given the disgusting and dangerous attacks on our democracy by the federal government.
    — Dominic Patten, Deadline, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of disgusting
Adjective
  • Floor around the fryers, floor under and around the drive thru drink station and floor under and around stationary equipment is visibly dirty.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Nov. 2026
  • Using the same sponge for every surface and spill could be making your kitchen dirtier every time.
    — Sarah Everett, The Spruce, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of dirty

Browse Nearby Words

depletions
deplorable
deplorableness
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Cite this Entry

“Deplorable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deplorable. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

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