Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Demanding or arousing pity: synonym: pathetic.
- adjective Archaic Pitying; compassionate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Full of pity or compassion; compassionate; affected by pity.
- Such as to excite pity or move to compassion; affecting; lamentable; sorrowful; mournful; sad: as, a piteous look; a piteous case.
- Pitiful; paltry; poor: as, piteous amends. Milton.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective obsolete Pious; devout.
- adjective Evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy; compassionate; tender.
- adjective Fitted to excite pity or sympathy; wretched; miserable; lamentable; sad.
- adjective Paltry; mean; pitiful.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
pitiful ; evincing pity, compassion, or sympathy. - adjective obsolete
pious ;devout - adjective obsolete
compassionate ;tender - adjective obsolete
paltry ;mean ;pitiful
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective deserving or inciting pity
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word piteous.
Examples
-
“O my lady, I am a banisht wight and with passion for a beloved one in piteous plight, nor with other will I consent to love-delight.”
-
It does not become the young man of the period to imitate too closely his ancestral Father Adam, and cry out in piteous tones: --
A Manual of Etiquette with Hints on Politeness and Good Breeding Sophia Orne 1873
-
He fell, calling in piteous tones to a padre who was in the coach, entreating him to stop and confess him, and groaning out a farewell to his friend the driver.
Life in Mexico, During a Residence of Two Years in That Country Frances Erskine Inglis 1843
-
How piteous is the case of mankind, which thus seems to be in a combination against itself, and its own rights and liberties, which could not be ruined but by its own strength!
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721
-
Multitudes perish by famine, a very sore judgment, and piteous is the case of those that fall under it.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume IV (Isaiah to Malachi) 1721
-
That which makes his case the more piteous is that he is not himself aware of his misery and danger; he goes blindfold, nay, he goes laughing to his ruin.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
-
I think there is a better word than 'piteous' -- yes, Clement had just told it me.
Peterkin Mrs. Molesworth 1880
-
Isidore recalled the piteous words uttered by Marguerite as she dropped the letter, and the truth flashed across his mind at once.
The King's Warrant A Story of Old and New France Alfred H. Engelbach
-
To this day I recall the piteous expressions of two or three of these wounded horses, as they raised their heads in their suffering and looked at us as we passed between them.
Arthur Peronneau Ford. "Life in the Confederate Army; Being Personal Experiences ..." 1905
-
Such it appears, at least, from the Place Saint André des Arts. Symbolically it might be called a piteous appeal, always rejected by souls hardened and hammered by vice, of that anvil which was only an optical illusion, and that very real bell.
En Route 1877
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.