PITEOUS Synonyms: 34 Similar and Opposite Words

piteous

adjective

ˈpi-tē-əs

Definition of piteous

as in pitiful

deserving of one's pity a piteous beggar huddled in the doorway of an abandoned building

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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

Adjective

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
Just 7% of Democrats approve, along with a pitiful 12% of independents.

— Jon Keller, CBS News, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of pitiful

Adjective

Disease that has spread to those organs is associated with poorer treatment outcomes.

— Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 24 Oct. 2026
They were frustrated with teacher shortages and poor conditions at schools, including overcrowded classrooms and dilapidated buildings.

— James Cirrone , Brittany Miller, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026

Definition of poor

Adjective

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
Gavroche and the insurgents of 1832—the wretched who became rioters—were ready to die defending a particular vision of the republic against the July Monarchy and the usurper Louis-Philippe.

— Ollivier Pourriol, Vanity Fair, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of wretched

Adjective

Happy peasants, miserable millionaires Graham first spotted the pattern in China.

— Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Oct. 2026
That and the two uniquely miserable Atlanta seasons under Morris’ guidance would normally be enough to gin up some bad feelings among the masses.

— Tyler Estep, AJC.com, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of miserable

Browse Nearby Words

pitchy

piteous

pitfall

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“Piteous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piteous. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of piteous

adjective

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