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
Gallup reached only 50,000 people, a pitiful fraction of The Literary Digest’s awe-inspiring mailbag.
—
David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2026
Writer-director Craig Brewer resists the temptation to make Mike and Claire in any way pitiful or worthy of derision.
—Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026
Here in his pitiful, mini Gaza where reasoning and logic struggle futilely.
—Rosa Lyster, Harpers Magazine, 6 Jan. 2026
Instead Tripp comes across as simultaneously pitiful and predatory, a fine line that Paulson was able to walk straight to the year-round Christmas store.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pitiful
David Frum, The Atlantic, 21 Feb. 2026
Writer-director Craig Brewer resists the temptation to make Mike and Claire in any way pitiful or worthy of derision.
—Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 9 Jan. 2026
Here in his pitiful, mini Gaza where reasoning and logic struggle futilely.
—Rosa Lyster, Harpers Magazine, 6 Jan. 2026
Instead Tripp comes across as simultaneously pitiful and predatory, a fine line that Paulson was able to walk straight to the year-round Christmas store.
—Tom Smyth, Vulture, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for pitiful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pitiful
Adjective
-
The 'merch hauls' on social media are awful, the desperate pathetic influencers trying to clout chase using the Masters are all awful.—
Kait Hanson,
Southern Living,
13 Apr. 2026
-
In a 2024 TikTok video that has reeled in over six million views, Welch shows the pathetic state of her softside suitcase upon her arrival at O’ahu.—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Unlike most lame-duck governors, California’s Gavin Newsom seems ascendant.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
-
There wasn’t much the voters could do with a menu so lame.—
Rob Sheffield,
Rolling Stone,
15 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
These closures reflect various factors, including poor investment returns, a lack of government support for refinery upgrades and higher carbon and energy costs.—
Ian King,
CNBC,
15 Apr. 2026
-
After McCandless and her council colleagues approved the sweeping tax breaks, King consistently spoke on how its planning process exemplified poor communication from the city, saying that current leaders should have advocated for a better deal for Independence.—
Kansas City Star,
Kansas City Star,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
And there is a beautiful human element to it that is kind of, at its core, a little sad.—
Rebecca Alter,
Vulture,
9 Apr. 2026
-
The vlogger Jordan Cheyenne, for one, wrecked her sharenting career by accidentally posting footage of herself coaching her son, who was distraught over the family’s sick puppy, to make a specific kind of sad face for YouTube.—
Jessica Winter,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Hungarians living near the southern frontier, where Orbán made a show of building a border fence during the refugee crisis, are travelling to Croatia to buy cheap groceries.—
Kapil Komireddi,
New Yorker,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Ukraine has developed expertise to destroy them through electronic jamming as well as using small, cheap interceptor drones to blow up the Shahed drones.—
NPR Staff,
NPR,
10 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Sullivan has run a refreshing offseason, considering his wretched inheritance.—
Dave Hyde,
Sun Sentinel,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Working with his regular cinematographer Oleg Mutu, Loznitsa gives this prison — and authoritarianism itself — a sickly luster without ever denying its wretched stench.—
Tim Grierson,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
The residents said the large block of dirty ice crashed through their roof and landed on their living room couch.—
Matthew Rodriguez,
CBS News,
14 Apr. 2026
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But because these sensors come into contact with dirty floors, they can easily get covered with dust and other debris.—
BestReviews,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Oil prices are once again surging in the wake of war in the Middle East, driving up the cost of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and threatening a return to stagflation — the toxic mix of higher prices and slower growth that made economic life so miserable a half-century ago.—
Paul Wiseman,
Los Angeles Times,
12 Apr. 2026
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That miserable scoring drought that Philadelphia Flyers captain Sean Couturier was mired in earlier all of a sudden seems like a distant memory.—
Kevin Kurz,
New York Times,
12 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pitiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pitiful. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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