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
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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
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These clowns don't even have the courage of their pathetic White supremacist convictions.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
6 Feb. 2026
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This kind of Jim Crow–style dehumanization is pathetic and a disgrace to the office.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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And Siegfried keeps trying to understand what’s wrong with this goat that its owner claims is lame.—
Alice Burton,
Vulture,
9 Feb. 2026
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With about a year left until the next mayoral election, the attacks from Johnson’s opponents attempting to preemptively paint him as a lame-duck mayor could also turn off candidates worried about job stability, but their contract specifics would vary by agency.—
Alice Yin,
Chicago Tribune,
4 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Semmann said stores raise prices primarily in response to supply chain issues, such as poor harvests, changes to international trade policy or increasing logistical costs.—
Francesca Pica,
jsonline.com,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Boating conditions are poor across offshore waters south of Cape Canaveral, while small craft need to exercise caution near the inlets.—
Garfield Hylton,
The Orlando Sentinel,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Meanwhile, Nancy Guthrie's Arizona community gathered for a vigil Wednesday evening while the world can't look away from an incident that is deeply, horrifically sad and frightening.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
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The song is sophisticated and simple, sad and somehow triumphant.—
Jed Gottlieb,
Boston Herald,
5 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Both Szakin and Zuleta agree that walking is one of the best—and cheapest—ways to take it all in.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Travel + Leisure,
6 Feb. 2026
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At European resorts specifically, renting a week’s worth of gear is often cheaper (and easier) than checking your skis and boot bags onto international flights.—
Erik Buckingham,
Condé Nast Traveler,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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More significant, in addition to being wretched, the book is also periodically wise.—
Akhil Sharma,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
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In the last three decades of mostly wretched basketball around here, Wall and Gilbert Arenas were, by far, the franchise’s two most iconic players.—
David Aldridge,
New York Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Yet, even as India remains wedded to the dirtiest fossil fuel, its coal consumption is roughly 40% of China’s at the same stage of development, Ember found.—
Laura Paddison,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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Camperlab also experimented with bleaching, dirty tints and shades of pink.—
Angela Velasquez,
Sourcing Journal,
10 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Wearing them for an hour is miserable, let alone a whole day.—
Reece Andavolgyi,
InStyle,
8 Feb. 2026
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And finally, the charges dismissed but his family gone, Campbell won a miserable kind of freedom.—
Rob Picheta,
CNN Money,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pitiful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pitiful. Accessed 13 Feb. 2026.
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