1
as in pathetic
deserving pitying scorn (as for inadequacy)
that piece of junk is a pitiful excuse for a car
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in lame
arousing or deserving of one's loathing and disgust
a pitiful coward
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in poor
deserving of one's pity
pitiful orphans who had lost everything in the war
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of pitiful
Even the minimum requirement — qualifying for the Champions League — depends on it because six points out of a possible 18 away from home so far is pitiful.
—
James Pearce, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
With a release on just over 2,000 screens, that's a pitiful per-theater-average of $649.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Nov. 2025
Yet Plemons imbues him with despair, finding a pitiful fragility in his aggression.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2025
Jerry Jeudy has struggled, and the depth behind Jeudy has been pitiful.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pitiful
James Pearce, New York Times, 10 Nov. 2025
With a release on just over 2,000 screens, that's a pitiful per-theater-average of $649.
—Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 9 Nov. 2025
Yet Plemons imbues him with despair, finding a pitiful fragility in his aggression.
—Shirley Li, The Atlantic, 31 Oct. 2025
Jerry Jeudy has struggled, and the depth behind Jeudy has been pitiful.
—Matthew Schmidt, MSNBC Newsweek, 31 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pitiful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pitiful
Adjective
-
For Guardiola to focus on lambasting Hallam was pretty pathetic, all told.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Marche feared that ChatGPT-3 meant the end of freshman composition papers, but that’s a pathetic and moribund genre anyhow.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Gavin Newsom is officially a lame-duck governor, and his final year in office seems increasingly focused on an almost certain campaign for the White House.—
Dan Walters,
Mercury News,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Gavin Newsom is officially a lame-duck governor, and his final year in office seems increasingly focused on an almost certain campaign for the White House.—
Dan Walters,
Oc Register,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Evening people were 79% more likely to have poor overall heart health compared with those in the intermediate group, the study found.—
Dr. Joseph Wendt,
ABC News,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Audits have identified poor planning, weak oversight, and insufficient monitoring of quality and cost.—
Walter Pavlo,
Forbes.com,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The same sad and sinister menace occupying 1600 Penn.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Of course, after a while the thrill of getting caught fades, and sneaking around becomes deeply sad rather than sexy.—
Sam Reed,
Glamour,
29 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The older one does Warners cartoon bits, really old-fashioned, cheap-ass funny vaudeville stuff.—
Lea Veloso,
StyleCaster,
30 Jan. 2026
-
Amazon’s selection, however, renewed my faith in cheap-and-cheerful bottoms.—
Annie Blackman,
InStyle,
30 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
More significant, in addition to being wretched, the book is also periodically wise.—
Akhil Sharma,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Not tired or wretched or tempest-tossed, but poor.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
21 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The women have frequently shared their custom dirty soda orders and helped catapult the once-niche drink, often guzzled from 44-ounce mega cups, into the spotlight.—
Brittany Anas,
Denver Post,
27 Jan. 2026
-
If extremely dirty, they can be very briefly dunked into cold water and wiped dry.—
Cathy Thomas,
Oc Register,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
In those years, a miserable and extensive roster of racially inflected deaths, from the Central Park jogger and the Exonerated Five to so many more, dominated local news programs and the tabloids, especially Rupert Murdoch’s Post.—
Christopher Bonanos,
Curbed,
1 Feb. 2026
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Even 54 games into this miserable campaign, there’s yet to be even an attempt at a course-correcting move.—
James Mirtle,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pitiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pitiful. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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