piteous

adjective

ˈpi-tē-əs How to pronounce piteous (audio)
Definition of piteousnext
as in pitiful
deserving of one's pity a piteous beggar huddled in the doorway of an abandoned building

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 piteous An old woman and an old man, innocent as lambs, clambering over rubble with their piteous backpacks and bundles. — David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025 Subjects set up as snakes in the grass are given piteous endings. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 20 Feb. 2025 The word integral seemed to me particularly poignant, piteous. — Joyce Carol Oates, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023 In roaring luxury markets from Manhattan to San Francisco over the past few years, buyers were a piteous bunch. — Katy McLaughlin, WSJ, 6 Mar. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piteous
  1. pitiful
  2. pathetic
  3. poor
  4. wretched
  5. miserable
Adjective
  • Completing the hat trick in pitiful style, Taking on the World was shot on a shoestring budget, helmed by the man behind Highlander III, and forced to rely on stock footage of real-life footballers.
    — Jon O'Brien, Vulture, 26 June 2026
  • Given the national team’s pitiful demise at the Oval, with New Zealand completing victory on the fifth morning, Ben Stokes’ revival in absentia feels like the only consolation from a miserable week.
    — Hector Vickers, New York Times, 21 June 2026
Definition of pitiful
Adjective
  • Never in my lifetime has pathetic nostalgia for the white man’s republic been closer to the center of power.
    — Brian DeLay, Mercury News, 4 July 2026
  • Instagram Plus is social media’s newest low—a company preying on our most pathetic impulses, for the price of a small iced coffee.
    — Annie Joy Williams, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026
Definition of pathetic
Adjective
  • Madrid had a poor 2024-25, failing to win the Spanish title or the Champions League, but Mbappe still scored 42 goals in 44 appearances.
    — Tim Spiers, New York Times, 21 July 2026
  • Using Neanderthal cranium shapes to estimate specific brain regions’ volume, some investigators claimed to see signs of a mind with feeble linguistic abilities, poor executive function and an unremarkable memory.
    — Cody Cottier, Scientific American, 20 July 2026
Definition of poor
Adjective
  • Hashimi’s tale of unflagging effort amid wretched inequality astounds.
    — Monitor reviewers, Christian Science Monitor, 23 July 2026
  • Sixteen children from the same family who were rescued from a dilapidated home in rural Ohio were living in wretched conditions with human waste all around, confined to just one room over much of the past four years, authorities said.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Definition of wretched
Adjective
  • Madrid’s World Cup players gradually began to return as their countries’ campaigns came to an end, including Federico Valverde after Uruguay’s miserable group-stage exit.
    — Guillermo Rai, New York Times, 24 July 2026
  • George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb will make life miserable for opposing secondaries.
    — Darren Cooper, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
Definition of miserable

Browse Nearby Words

pitchy
piteous
pitfall
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Cite this Entry

“Piteous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piteous. Accessed 27 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on piteous

Nglish: Translation of piteous for Spanish Speakers

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