pitiful Definition

pitiful
adj

1. Arousing pity; wretched or pathetic.

Example: His clothes were in a pitiful state
Thesaurus: lamentable, pathetic, piteous, touching, poignant, heartbreaking, moving, distressing, sorrowful, miserable, comfortless, cheerless.
2. Sadly inadequate or ineffective.

Example: a pitiful attempt to be funny
Thesaurus: paltry, measly, inadequate, mean, base, low, wretched, pathetic.

Derivative: pitifully
adverb

Derivative: pitifulness
noun

Etymology: 15c; 16c in sense 2.