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 Later, Ivy interrogates Felix about having strayed dangerously from the straight-and-narrow, a confrontation that is agonizing to watch, as Mr. Torres’s performance gains in both piteous despair and angry ferocity. Charles Isherwood, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2022 Because the Grammys telecast draws generations of viewers, and because Grammy voters are drawn from a wide pool that skews older, what emerges on the show, and in the awards themselves, is a kind of piteous compromise that holds real innovation at bay. New York Times, 4 Apr. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piteous
Adjective
  • The Browns have scored the second-fewest points in the NFL, ahead of only the pitiful Tennessee Titans.
    Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 28 Sep. 2025
  • On the side of the highway, Wilson cuts a pitiful, solitary figure.
    Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Characters can be pathetic, and frank about their Toledo Truth Teller’s bleak prospects.
    Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 23 Sep. 2025
  • Jimmy Kimmel is a pathetic hate monger.
    Dave Smith, Fortune, 18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • Similar protests occurred in Brazil over steep living costs and poor healthcare and education ahead of the country hosting the 2014 World Cup tournament.
    Connor Greene, Time, 2 Oct. 2025
  • Over time, dysfunctional breathing reinforces poor posture and scapular instability.
    Dana Santas, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
Adjective
  • When the din inside Rams Park had finally subsided, Arne Slot attempted to put a positive spin on a wretched night for Liverpool.
    James Pearce, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2025
  • Yes, Baltimore’s defense is wretched, so don’t count on this being a cure-all, exactly.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
  • The same goes for Treinen, who endured a miserable September, allowing 12 runs (10 earned) in 9 1/3 innings.
    Fabian Ardaya, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
  • And so, a miserable team performance was cemented into a 26-21 loss, the team’s first of the year.
    Dieter Kurtenbach, Mercury News, 29 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Piteous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piteous. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.

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