pitiful

UK: /ˈpɪtif^ʊl/ US: /ˈpɪtɪfəl/ ,(pit′i fəl)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

pit•i•ful /ˈpɪtɪfəl/   adj. 

1. arousing a feeling of pity;
   deserving pity:
   a pitiful fate.
2. arousing contempt due to inadequacy or poor quality:
   pitiful attempts to hide the truth.

pit•i•ful•ly, adv. 

: He pitched pitifully in that last game.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

pit•i•ful  (pit′i fəl), adj. 

1. evoking or deserving pity:
   a pitiful fate.
2. evoking or deserving contempt by smallness, poor quality, etc.:
   pitiful attempts.
3. [Archaic.] full of pity;
   compassionate.

• 1400–50; late Middle English; see pity, -ful

pit′i•ful•ly, adv. 
pit′i•ful•ness, n. 
Synonyms

• 1. lamentable, deplorable, woeful, pathetic.
• 1, 2. Pitiful, pitiable, piteous apply to that which excites pity (with compassion or with contempt). That which is pitiful is touching and excites pity or is mean and contemptible:
  a pitiful leper; a pitiful exhibition of cowardice.
  Pitiable may mean lamentable, or wretched and paltry:
  a pitiable hovel.
  Piteous refers only to that which exhibits suffering and misery, and is therefore heart-rending:
  piteous poverty.
• 2. deplorable, mean, low, base, vile, despicable.

Antonyms

• 1. delightful.
• 2. honorable.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

pitiful / ˈpɪtɪfʊl/ adjective

1. arousing or deserving pity
2. arousing or deserving contempt
3. full of pity or compassion

ˈpitifully adverb

ˈpitifulness noun