as in pitiful
deserving of one's pity
a piteous beggar huddled in the doorway of an abandoned building
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Recent Examples of piteous
An old woman and an old man, innocent as lambs, clambering over rubble with their piteous backpacks and bundles.
—
David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
Subjects set up as snakes in the grass are given piteous endings.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 20 Feb. 2025
The word integral seemed to me particularly poignant, piteous.
—Joyce Carol Oates, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023
Later, Ivy interrogates Felix about having strayed dangerously from the straight-and-narrow, a confrontation that is agonizing to watch, as Mr. Torres’s performance gains in both piteous despair and angry ferocity.
—Charles Isherwood, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2022
Because the Grammys telecast draws generations of viewers, and because Grammy voters are drawn from a wide pool that skews older, what emerges on the show, and in the awards themselves, is a kind of piteous compromise that holds real innovation at bay.
—New York Times, 4 Apr. 2022
David Bezmozgis, New Yorker, 6 Apr. 2025
Subjects set up as snakes in the grass are given piteous endings.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 20 Feb. 2025
The word integral seemed to me particularly poignant, piteous.
—Joyce Carol Oates, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023
Later, Ivy interrogates Felix about having strayed dangerously from the straight-and-narrow, a confrontation that is agonizing to watch, as Mr. Torres’s performance gains in both piteous despair and angry ferocity.
—Charles Isherwood, WSJ, 17 Nov. 2022
Because the Grammys telecast draws generations of viewers, and because Grammy voters are drawn from a wide pool that skews older, what emerges on the show, and in the awards themselves, is a kind of piteous compromise that holds real innovation at bay.
—New York Times, 4 Apr. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for piteous
Adjective
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Mercy came via a bye week, the pitiful Raiders and an inept Cowboys defense.—
Tom Krasovic,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Jan. 2026
-
Writer-director Craig Brewer resists the temptation to make Mike and Claire in any way pitiful or worthy of derision.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Jan. 2026
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
-
This kind of Jim Crow–style dehumanization is pathetic and a disgrace to the office.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
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
-
Over the summer, Gallup measured the party’s approval rating at 34 percent, its lowest point since Gallup began tracking partisan approval ratings, in 1992; a Wall Street Journal poll had the Democrats at 33 percent approval; a CNN poll put their approval rating at a wretched 28 percent.—
Mark Leibovich,
The Atlantic,
11 Feb. 2026
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More significant, in addition to being wretched, the book is also periodically wise.—
Akhil Sharma,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Wearing them for an hour is miserable, let alone a whole day.—
Reece Andavolgyi,
InStyle,
8 Feb. 2026
-
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
“Piteous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/piteous. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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