Dictionary entry

Pitiful

Webster's Dictionary 1913

Pit″i‐ful (?), a. 1. Full of pity; tender-hearted; compassionate; kind; merciful; sympathetic.

The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. James v. 11.

2. Piteous; lamentable; eliciting compassion.

A thing, indeed, very pitiful and horrible. Spenser.

3. To be pitied for littleness or meanness; miserable; paltry; contemptible; despicable.

That's villainous, and shows a most pitiful ambition in the fool that uses it. Shak.

Syn. — Despicable; mean; paltry. See Contemptible.

— Pit″i‐ful‐ly, adv. — Pit″i‐ful‐ness, n.